Shapes, shapes, shapes

Hoban is well known for her unexcelled concept books for preschoolers. Taking color and black-and-white photos of familiar objects and surroundings she shows letters, numbers, colors, opposites and more. Her pictures are more precise and clear than many stylized or abstract drawings. Giving examples of different shapes, like circles, hexagons, parallelograms and stars, she asks the child to find the shapes within the pictures. It's amazing how many shapes an open lunchbox on a checkered tablecloth can reveal; from a round orange to oval halves of a hard-boiled egg (with round yolks) to a rectangular thermos to star- and heart-shaped cookies. This marvelous book from a topnotch photographer gives children the opportunity to see the world around them, not just look at it. (38) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

PreS Up Adults and kids of all shapes and sizes are in for a treat with this outstanding wordless book. Hoban's full-color photos have an astonishing clarity and glow to them. They include interesting and beautiful urban landscapes, portraits and still life. Children will have fun speculating about the photographsor they can simply enjoy them, no comment necessary. Looking at this book for shapes is a little like looking at a Cezanne for shapes. Nevertheless, circles, stars, triangles and even fancier geometric figures like trapezoids are here in abundance. The 11 figures represented, as well as the photographs, reach well beyond Hoban's earlier books about shapes. This book has an impressive technical quality of photographic reproduction and fine artistic content. Do your eyes a favor, and don't miss this one. Anna Biagioni Hart, Sherwood Regional Library, Alexandria, Va. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.