cover image Shapes That Roll

Shapes That Roll

Karen Nagel, illus. by Steve Wilson. Blue Apple (Chronicle, dist.), $14.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-934706-81-7

Nagel's (Two Crazy Pigs) verse celebrates a variety of shapes to the accompaniment of Wilson's (Lines that Wiggle) crisp, colorful spreads. A circle, a square, and a triangle%E2%80%94each with arms, legs, and pleasant smiles%E2%80%94introduce the properties of simple shapes. In an early spread, the school bus%E2%80%94yellow circle rolls a circle ("Shapes that roll"), the lime-green square pushes futilely against a larger square ("Shapes that can't"), and the candy-pink triangle waves cheerfully near another triangle ("Shapes with sides that angle and slant"). But rather than just delineating shapes' geometric attributes, Nagel's goal appears to be getting kids to see shapes everywhere ("The whole wide world is made of shapes") and helping them consider what they might connote in different applications%E2%80%94a triangle could be part of a seesaw, a pine tree, or the tip of an iceberg. A thick layer of spot varnish applied over the starring shapes on each page intensifies the already bright colors, giving each shape the glossy sheen of tiddlywinks. It's as close to a play set as a book can be without moving parts, and little eyes and little fingers will be charmed. Ages 4%E2%80%948. (Sept.)