Lines

Lines have the ability to connect and define—something Naberhaus and Beck portray with grace in a board book that opens with a single vertical line and expands to encompass the entire solar system. It’s an exercise in building: one line becomes four, and the resulting square turns into a building in a town crisscrossed by roads (more lines). Curved lines form circles, which become vehicles to fill those roads. There’s a quiet poetry to Naberhaus’s ultra-spare text (“Lines/ Squares/ Circles/ Go up/ Go Down/ Lines/ Squares/ Circles/ All around”), and Beck’s bright illustrations play with form, perspective, and geometry as a town, community, and planet grow from the most basic of building blocks. Ages 2–4. Author’s agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. (Aug.)