The Shape of You

by Muon Thi Van (Author) Miki Sato (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

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.

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Hardcover
$19.99

Kirkus

Starred Review
Destined to become a classic.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Shapes become the vocabulary used to suggest a child's experience of the world in this evocative picture book. From a rectangular door to a square kitchen table, geometric observations initiate the book's conceit before text segues into subtlety with descriptions of the shapes made by light, thinking, wind, warmth, and more. Simple grammar yields philosophical meanings in Thi Van's incantatory lines: "The shape of learning/ is a question." Sato's collages layer vibrant colors, textiles, and embroidery, successfully visualizing that which feels elusive. In one scene, a child and caregiver, who both cue as East Asian, snuggle beneath a blanket while reading: "The shape of a good story/ wraps around tight." Another spread, responding to the notion that forms can change, presents a big and small hand clasping: "The shape of my fingers/ will always fit yours." When a final shape centers love, it makes for a tender closing moment that encapsulates the story's caring ethos. Ages 4-8. (May)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

PreS-K--Shapes are everywhere, from the huge expanse of the round earth to the small cube of ice in a glass of water. But while some shapes are predictable and obvious, others are more subjective, like the shape of the wind or the shape of love. But no matter what kind of shape something takes, or whether it changes or stays the same over time, it is an important component of the boundless universe. Throughout this picture book, shapes are presented to readers in a lyrical, poetic way, and rather than explaining every shape directly, the narrative often leaves space for interpretation and discussion. Paper collage-style illustrations layering fabric and other textures depict a child and a caregiver interacting together in several contexts in a safe environment that is just the right size for them. Children and their caregivers reading this book will delight in the possibility and wonder that emerge from the page in each moment, especially as they search for secrets and fill in the voids intentionally designed to inspire deeper reflection. The text itself is beautiful to both read aloud and to hear, but it is secondary to the illustrations due to its overall brevity and the small size of the font. Together, however, the images and the words flow beautifully, creating a memorable story to share with a loved one. VERDICT This thoughtful book incorporates early math concepts into a tale of the love and beauty that exist between a child and their caregiveres.--Mary R. Lanni

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

One unique picture book with much to say equals quite a lot.—Kirkus Reviews, starred review (Praise for One is a Lot (Except When It's Not))
Muon Thi Van
Muon Thi 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. Muon 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.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781525305450
Lexile Measure
430
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Kids Can Press
Publication date
May 02, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV039090 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | New Experience
JUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
Library of Congress categories
Shape
Shapes
Form perception

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