Published: May 2, 2023
Pages: 32
A thoughtful and unique meditation on the shapes found in everyday life, sure to expand young children’s thinking.
In lyrical language, a mother tells her small daughter about the shapes that make up their lives. At first, the shapes are literal. The shape of their door is a rectangle, their table, a square. Water can be shaped like a cube or a cloud. And then she moves on to the figurative. The shape of learning is a question. The shape of warmth is a space waiting to be filled. Some shapes change, like a child growing up, while some remain the same, like the triangle of the mountain behind their house. The shape of her heart, she concludes, “will always be you.”
Bestselling and award-winning author Mượn Thị Văn has written an innovative, poetic and philosophical exploration of shapes and the many forms they can take, touching on objects, families and love. The meditative and heartwarming text is beautifully complemented by Miki Sato’s layered, multitextured and three-dimensional-looking illustrations created from different papers and fabrics. A soothing read-aloud, this picture book has the feel of a classic and promotes observation, curiosity, interpretation and discussion. It’s an excellent choice for exploring critical thinking, shapes and measurements with young children.
I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.
This is a story that explores a lot of the shapes around us every day, some of them geometric, some of them more figurative or metaphorical. It felt a little bit repetitive with the word shape, but considering the title and subject matter, that's to be expected.
The illustrations were what got me in this book. They were mixed-multimedia style illustrations, and there were several times that I wanted to reach out and touch the textures I was seeing (wouldn't have done me any good on my iPad screen, but this would make an excellent touch and feel type book. I'm sure it won't be that because to incorporate all the textures in mass production would be unrealistic or make the book rather pricey). They were bright and dark and colorful. I loved them.
The amount of narration was fairly minimal, so I'd probably be fine to read this book to children several times as it's a fairly quick read, but I know I'd eventually get annoyed by it. Overall I give this book 4.3 out of 5 stars. - Katie
Mu?n Th? Van loves to read books of all shapes and sizes. She first began reading yellow-spined hardbacks about a certain girl detective before graduating to longer novels and then picture books (it's true, she doesn't remember reading picture books as a young child). So few books reflected her formative experiences, though, that she desired to bring new and different stories into the world. Mu?n has written many picture books for children, including Wishes, If You Were Night and One Is a Lot, and her books have received many distinctions and awards. She lives in Northern California with her family.
Miki Sato is a Japanese Canadian illustrator who uses a variety of different papers and fabrics to create layered, three-dimensional-looking illustrations. She enjoys experimenting with new textures and incorporates materials such as embroidery thread, glass beads, cotton balls, and sand into her illustrations. Miki lives in Toronto, Ontario.
No comments:
Post a Comment