Shapes and Shapes

Scattering a range of brightly colored geometric forms on a classroom floor, a brown-skinned teacher invites a room full of students, portrayed with varying skin tones, to “see how many things we can make from these simple shapes.” The kids, equipped with crayons, glue, and scissors, begin by turning the shapes into more complicated ones, then quickly move on to bigger ideas. One brown-skinned, bespectacled student constructs a portrait of “my whole family,” and the class subsequently wrangles the shapes into “a whole neighborhood!” Like many an effective classroom activity, this one also alters the way the students look at the world outside. At recess, the kids observe that basketball features “circles and triangles,” while a soccer ball “has pentagons and hexagons.” And back in class, the students discover that by turning flat shapes into those with volume, they can bring their creations into the 3D realm. Brunetti (Comics: Easy as ABC!) works in digitally colored panels whose forms are all about simple configurations. Even more importantly, he captures the fun of a bunch of kids getting their creativity into tip-top shape. Ages 4–6. (Oct.)