Tag: shapes

Posted in Preschool Reads

Do You See What I See? Vintage art meets children’s concepts

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

9781909263840_def1bDo You See What I See?, by Helen Borten (May 2016, Flying Eye Books), $17.95, ISBN: 9781909263840

Recommended for ages 4-8

One step up from basic concepts, Helen Borten’s Do You See What I See? takes children one step further, unpacking what feelings and ideas these fundamental concepts evoke in young readers:

“Lines that bend in a zigzag way seem to crackle with excitement. They make me think of thunderstorms and jagged mountain peaks. I see the huge jaws of a crocodile, wide open and bristling with teeth, ready to snap shut.”

Originally published in 1959, Mr. Borten’s beautiful, vintage artwork adds texture to the basics: lines, color, and shape, whether it’s by adding swirls to an ocean full of fish or wispy, thin spider webs above the thick bars of a lion’s cage. Ms. Borten artwork and evocative text inspires children to see the world around them “as a great big painting, full of lines and shapes and colors, to look at and enjoy”.

I’m thrilled to see this book back in print and can’t wait to introduce it to my family storytime. We can have a great discussion about what different pictures and colors make kids feel, and how changing one thing in a picture – a shape, a color, adding or taking something away – affects the whole picture. A must-have for collections where kids are ready to take the next step beyond Mouse Paint and Mouse Count.

Do You See What I See? isn’t out until May, but take a look at some more of the beautiful art from the book, and you can pre-order from Amazon. Check out the publisher’s website for some more books – they have books with amazing artwork.

 

Posted in Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Book Review: Circle Dogs, by Kevin Henkes/illus. by Dan Yaccarino (Greenwillow Books, 1998)

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

circle dogsRecommended for ages 2-5

Circle dogs live with their family in a square house with a square yard, eat circle snacks, and dig circle holes. Created by popular children’s author/illustrator duo Kevin Henkes and Dan Yaccarino, Circle Dogs provides a fun lesson in shapes wrapped within a story about two fun-loving dachshunds, referred to as “circle dogs” because they twist themselves into circles when they sleep. The story takes place over a day in the life of the circle dogs and their family: they wake up in the morning, along with the sun, alarm, baby and birds; kiss their family members; play; eat; nap; eat, and go to bed for the night. Dan Yaccarino’s artwork has shades of Lane Smith’s retro feel here; his brightly colored gouache pictures look like cutouts on white space and will attract a young reader’s attention with his contrasting colors. The bold text is black on lighter spaces and white against black spaces, standing out and making reading easy.

This concept book provides a great opportunity for a read-aloud on shapes. The book invites interactive reading by using repetitive sounds to communicate the dogs’ day: their tags go clink-clank, their tails flip-flap and swish, swoosh, and they eat their dog food with a kibble-clatter, kibble nibble.   Circles, squares and triangles are easily identifiable and plentiful throughout. This would be a great opportunity to use a felt board with shapes for young audiences to identify and create pictures with – a square can be a house, a sandwich, a window; a circle can be a sun, a face, or a table; a triangle can be an ice cream cone, a hat, or a dog’s ear, as in Circle Dogs. The DLTK website offer a Shapes Buddies webpage with printables including a Shapes Bingo game and Buddy Shapes to color.

The author’s webpage offers information about more of his books, plus downloadable guides and printables for parents and teachers.

 

Posted in Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Book Review: Duck Sock Hop, by Jane Kohuth/illus. by Kane Porter (Dial Books for Children, 2012)

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

ducksockhopRecommended for ages 2-4

Once a week, ducks grab a bunch of socks from the sock box and head over to dance at the sock hop. They dance and wear all sorts of fun socks that they get from the sock box. Naturally, the party gets a little out of control, but it all ends well, and the ducks get ready for the next sock hop.

The illustrations are fun; cartoon-style and outlined in black with textured with hand-printed patterns on both the socks and the ducks are interesting to look at, and younger readers get a little lesson in shapes as the story describes the exciting socks found in the sock box: socks with squares, dots, moons, cars and spoons! The story is told in rhyme and allows for a fun, movement-oriented read-aloud once the sock hop gets underway as the ducks teeter, tumble, twist and trip their way through the dance. The story font is a bold, rounded font that curves around the pictures, creating further interest.

 This would be a great addition to a movement-oriented storytime. Books like Karen Katz’s Shake it Up, Baby! and Helen Oxenbury’s Clap Hands are good additions to this type of storytime. The Perry Public Library has great Move Your Body storytime suggestions, including fun songs like “Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. The author’s website also offers Duck Sock Hop activities, including a Duck Sock Hop Kit that allows you to create your own sock hop – attendees could bring a pair of fun socks to donate to the sock box!