Colors versus shapes

K-Gr 2-Two teams vie for a starring role in the book. One of the judges, a bespectacled alligator asks, "Why should this book be about you?" The smiling, raisin-shaped daubs of color begin their audition, but the team of black-and-white shapes interrupts. Waving their gloved hands and running around the stage, members of the opposing teams banter back and forth in a series of dialogue bubbles. The contestants all begin to show off, mixing it up to create new and unusual colors (turquioise, maroon, and amber) and shapes (rhombus, hexagon, and irregular polygons), until chaos reigns. Finally, there is a splattering collision resulting in a bright red octagon, and the teams come to the conclusion that cooperation is the answer. Together, the contestants create a bright and sunny landscape filled with buildings and vehicles constructed of squares, circles, and triangles. Their efforts duly impress the judges. The action is set against plenty of white space, and the names of the colors are printed in corresponding shades. Boldt's new title follows his equally engaging 123 Versus ABC (HarperCollins, 2013) and offers an amusing lesson on competition and cooperation as well.-Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston, MA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Boldt (123 versus ABC, 2013) continues to mix things up; this time, colors and shapes audition to be the stars of a book.Team 1 consists of colorsblobs with arms, legs and faces. They are invited to take the stage first, but theyre interrupted by Team 2white anthropomorphized shapes with big attitudes: Clearly were going to win this contest.So you may as well just skip those fellas. Well, thems fightin words. The colors begin to show off, mixing primaries to make secondaries (blue and yellow combine, and green is the resultbut all three still exist separately, which may puzzle readers). Meanwhile, two triangles make a square, the only combination; from there, they simply add angles and sides. The yelling escalates until red and octagon accidently collide. Cooperation leads to a colorful, wordless spread that showcases colorful objects built from basic shapes, though not all of them are easily individuated (the three sections of an apple-tree trunk, for instance); Stella Blackstones Ship Shapes (2006) did a much better job with regard to combining shapes into scenes. In the end, the judges (the stars of 123 versus ABC) give colors a 10 and shapes an A+, and obviously, they are both the stars of this book. Boldts digital illustrations are just as colorful and zany as those in his previous book, but readers may have some trouble following the numerous, crowded speech bubbles.Not nearly as much fun as the showdown between letters and numbers. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.