Go, Shapes, Go!

by Denise Fleming (Author) Denise Fleming (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade
Circles, rectangles, ovals, arcs, and other shapes have fun moving about, along with a mischievous mouse that wants to play, too, in this picture book from a Caldecott Honoree. Full color.
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School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1--Pulp painting and collage art prevail in this creative game. On the first spread, a motorized mouse figure instructs shapes--a small arc, triangle, oval, large arc, circle, two small ovals, two tiny circles, two big rectangles, two thin rectangles, and a square--to rearrange themselves piece by piece to form a monkey. Mouse and Monkey accidentally collide, and the pieces assemble into a cat, then quickly return to the intended form. Fleming's active verbs (bounce, slide, slither, flip) create verbal energy to reflect the visual fun that keeps fresh with varying colored backgrounds. Readers can seek and find the shapes on each page, and assembling them in different ways creates an engaging interactive experience.--Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Tiny paper-collage Mouse gives various cut-paper shapes their marching--and rolling, bouncing, and slithering--orders in Fleming's (Underground) celebration of concepts and perception. With oval wheels that give the impression of a windup mouse, the speedy rodent zooms across Fleming's bold handmade paper backgrounds, directing the shapes on how to assemble themselves: "Slide, SQUARE, and start the show! Bounce, OVAL, up and down.... Flip, thin RECTANGLES. Don't break!"). When each shape has played its part to form a new whole, the resulting monkey looks ready to play. However, in his exuberance, Mouse crashes into the monkey, sending the shapes scattering. And when the rallying cry "SHAPES, find your places!" comes, the paper pieces take on a spirit of their own, reassembling into, not a monkey, but another animal that has Mouse on the run. Though the story reads as a bit scattered, readers will enjoy joining in the puzzlelike fun, guessing what the shapes are forming and imagining how they might reconfigure. The shapes themselves, snipped from decorative handmade paper, are labeled, helping to introduce or reinforce readers' familiarity with them. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Pulp painting and collage art prevail in this creative game. On the first spread, a motorized mouse figure instructs shapes—a small arc, triangle, oval, large arc, circle, two small ovals, two tiny circles, two big rectangles, two thin rectangles, and a square—to rearrange themselves piece by piece to form a monkey. Mouse and Monkey accidentally collide, and the pieces assemble into a cat, then quickly return to the intended form. Fleming's active verbs (bounce, slide, slither, flip) create verbal energy to reflect the visual fun that keeps fresh with varying colored backgrounds. Readers can seek and find the shapes on each page, and assembling them in different ways creates an engaging interactive experience.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA—School Library Journal "September 10, 2014 "
Denise Fleming

Denise Fleming has written and illustrated many children's books, including "In the Tall, Tall Grass," "Shout! Shout It Out"!, and "Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy." She won a Caldecott Honor for "In the Small, Small Pond." Denise published her first painting in the third grade, when she started taking classes at the Toledo Museum of Art and one of her paintings was chosen to be the cover of a teacher's magazine. She now works primarily with paper, by pouring colored paper pulp through hand-cut stencils. She lives in Toledo, Ohio.

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781442482401
Lexile Measure
270
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Beach Lane Books
Publication date
October 07, 2014
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV002180 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Mice, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, etc.
JUV009060 - Juvenile Fiction | Concepts | Size & Shape
Library of Congress categories
Mice
Shape
Locomotion

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