Go, Shapes, Go!

Tiny paper-collage Mouse gives various cut-paper shapes their marching—and rolling, bouncing, and slithering—orders in Fleming’s (Underground) celebration of concepts and perception. With oval wheels that give the impression of a windup mouse, the speedy rodent zooms across Fleming’s bold handmade paper backgrounds, directing the shapes on how to assemble themselves: “Slide, SQUARE, and start the show! Bounce, OVAL, up and down.... Flip, thin RECTANGLES. Don’t break!”). When each shape has played its part to form a new whole, the resulting monkey looks ready to play. However, in his exuberance, Mouse crashes into the monkey, sending the shapes scattering. And when the rallying cry “SHAPES, find your places!” comes, the paper pieces take on a spirit of their own, reassembling into, not a monkey, but another animal that has Mouse on the run. Though the story reads as a bit scattered, readers will enjoy joining in the puzzlelike fun, guessing what the shapes are forming and imagining how they might reconfigure. The shapes themselves, snipped from decorative handmade paper, are labeled, helping to introduce or reinforce readers’ familiarity with them. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)