Inviting, if more utilitarian than literary.
Introducing the classic puzzle known as the tangram, a simple tale shows how seven geometric shapes can be arranged into a host of animals and other things.
“Nǐ hǎo! Hello!” While searching for a dragon to bring rain to the dry land, Little Triangle meets and makes a butterfly with Second Little Triangle. The duo encounters Square, and they all combine to create a bat. Parallelogram, Medium Triangle, and a pair of Big Triangles join the fray—until at last all assemble into a dragon that soars into the sky to create clouds. Scurfield draws simple faces but leaves the shapes intact in the illustrations so that hands-on readers have the option of placing their own “tans” from an attached sheet of cutouts (not seen) on top of each. In several full-spread galleries, she adds dozens of other tangram figures to create. Along with noting in the afterword that the seven pieces can be made into thousands more, Liu-Perkins looks at the many ways this low-tech puzzle promotes concentration and persistence, teaches mathematical concepts, and fosters creativity and storytelling skills. She also traces its history and uses in China, where it was invented, and beyond, and notes that the animals that the shapes form have cultural significance in China. The plotline may be too rudimentary to excite much response in younger audiences, but this may well open a gateway to hours, if not years, of mind-expanding play.
Inviting, if more utilitarian than literary. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781547608058
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent.
Wouldn’t the same housecat look very different to a dog and a mouse, a bee and a flea, a fox, a goldfish, or a skunk?
The differences are certainly vast in Wenzel’s often melodramatic scenes. Benign and strokable beneath the hand of a light-skinned child (visible only from the waist down), the brindled cat is transformed to an ugly, skinny slinker in a suspicious dog’s view. In a fox’s eyes it looks like delectably chubby prey but looms, a terrifying monster, over a cowering mouse. It seems a field of colored dots to a bee; jagged vibrations to an earthworm; a hairy thicket to a flea. “Yes,” runs the terse commentary’s refrain, “they all saw the cat.” Words in italics and in capital letters in nearly every line give said commentary a deliberate cadence and pacing: “The cat walked through the world, / with its whiskers, ears, and paws… // and the fish saw A CAT.” Along with inviting more reflective viewers to ruminate about perception and subjectivity, the cat’s perambulations offer elemental visual delights in the art’s extreme and sudden shifts in color, texture, and mood from one page or page turn to the next.
A solo debut for Wenzel showcasing both technical chops and a philosophical bent. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5013-0
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
After a promising start, this autumnal offering ultimately disappoints.
Change is on the horizon for a trio of leaves at home in the branches of various trees in a park.
When the air grows chilly, Birch, Oak, and Maple all experience different emotions. Birch is optimistic and expectant, Oak is cautious and reluctant, and obstinate Maple feels left out as the other leaves change colors but she doesn’t. Illustrations rendered in acrylic gouache, colored pencil, and collage depict endearingly anthropomorphized leaves, with autumnal colors that pop. As the leaves learn more about fall from a pair of knowledgeable squirrels, Maple’s slow change to red is overshadowed by her impatience to join her friends. It’s only when she pulls herself free that she learns about the downside of fall—namely, the bottoms of boots, rain gutters, and rakes. Much like the shift from the bright crisp early days of autumn to the damp cold ones later in the season, it’s here that the story changes, going from a surprisingly nuanced examination of growth to something fluffy and less interesting. A young girl with straight black hair and tan skin finds the fallen leaves and takes them home, where she draws them as anthropomorphic characters, and all discussion of the importance of change is lost. Caregivers looking for a springboard to a discussion about growing up and the uncertainty of change may find this useful, but its sputtering ending detracts from its early momentum. Maybe next year will bring a more promising crop of leaves. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
After a promising start, this autumnal offering ultimately disappoints. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-358-41945-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
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