Do You See Shapes?

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

Three shapes—circle, square and triangle—are introduced in this tabbed "Rookie Toddler" board book. The opening spread features a variety of circles in lots of different colors and sizes. The amusing text asks "Do you see circles? They're all around!" A play on words that toddlers may not get. The next spread shows a series of items that are round and names them. The text suggests that children clap each time they find one of the items. So one can only assume that it is a type of game where the caregiver reads the name of the item and the toddler points to it and then claps. The same pattern is followed for the other two shapes. The tip on the final spread is contained in a triangular inset. It makes suggestions for extending the lesson. Clever parents and caregivers could also use the book to focus on colors, counting and explaining relative size. The format reminds this reviewer of the earlier DK books which also had crisp white pages, excellent images and a clear text in a large type font. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot