A colorful, exciting way to open young children’s eyes and minds to the shapes all around them.
What amazing sights nature has on offer. Look around!
Aren’t shapes great? Where would we be without those literal building blocks of existence? This volume distinguishes itself from ordinary concept books that simply introduce children to fundamental shapes; this one will also foster a sense of wonder in the natural world. Kids will be mesmerized as they pore over the dazzlingly colorful, delicate, and intricate patterns that shapes produce in nature, seen here from a bevy of perspectives. Stewart proposes—and presents clear evidence, courtesy of gorgeous photos—that shapes are everywhere in nature, from a honeycomb to the spots on a ladybug to raindrops, which appear wondrous when viewed up close as groups of differently sized, shimmering blue circles reflecting light. Children can also look closely at plants, gemstones, and rocks, all of which have specific contours, but shapes can also be found in their markings. A quibble—though the backmatter offers information on shapes, it doesn’t identify the objects depicted in the photos; kids (and adults) may be curious to learn more. Simple, gentle rhyming text enhances the concept, adds to the book’s allure, and invites kids to look closely at the shapes presented here. Another highlight: This is a nifty vocabulary developer, featuring delightful, potentially unfamiliar words including crescent, pyramid, and sphere.
A colorful, exciting way to open young children’s eyes and minds to the shapes all around them. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781478887744
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
Caregivers eager to expose their children to fine art have better choices than this.
From “Apple” to “Zebra,” an alphabet of images drawn from museum paintings.
In an exhibition that recalls similar, if less parochial, ABCs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (My First ABC, 2009) and several other institutions, Hahn presents a Eurocentric selection of paintings or details to illustrate for each letter a common item or animal—all printed with reasonable clarity and captioned with identifying names, titles, and dates. She then proceeds to saddle each with an inane question (“What sounds do you think this cat is making?” “Where can you find ice?”) and a clumsily written couplet that unnecessarily repeats the artist’s name: “Flowers are plants that blossom and bloom. / Frédéric Bazille painted them filling up this room!” She also sometimes contradicts the visuals, claiming that the horses in a Franz Marc painting entitled “Two Horses, 1912” are ponies, apparently to populate the P page. Moreover, her “X” is an actual X-ray of a Jean-Honoré Fragonard, showing that the artist repainted his subject’s face…interesting but not quite in keeping with the familiar subjects chosen for the other letters.
Caregivers eager to expose their children to fine art have better choices than this. (Informational picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5107-4938-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
