Shape Space

According to this bouncy concept book, learning geometric shapes can be as much fun as dancing about a room. A spirited girl in a blue leotard empties a toy chest full of multicolored shapes to commence the festivities. Incorporating all the appropriate shape names, the young dancer rocks on a rectangle, taps on a triangle and swings a circle round and round. She dons a tutu of shapes and a triangle hat, and even builds herself a partner to play with before it's time to put everything away. Falwell's exuberant text makes good use of repeating the proper shape names, while her bold designs on ample white space provide many opportunities for their identification. Snappy, often rhyming phrases pepper the pages and encourage an active read-aloud, though the lack of meter in some spots may slow the proceedings a bit. Not labeling each shape with its name, but relying on the text to provide the answers seems to work here, and makes the art more versatile. The enthusiastic guide through these pages will keep readers trying to guess what comes next. Ages 4-7. (Sept.)