Dot

by Patricia Intriago

Spare, rhythmic text and pairs of simple circular shapes convey opposite relationships in the arc of a day in this very simple concept book.

Dots here, dots there, you can see dots everywhere! Some are loud, and some are quiet. Some are happy, and some are sad. Some dots even taste yummy, while others taste bad.

Graphic designer Patricia Intriago sets bold, circular shapes against a stark white background to emphasize opposite dot relationships.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Fiction, Juvenile, Humor, Kids

40 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 2011

Reviews

[Samantha Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book uses a circular dot in a variety of settings, mostly black and white layouts, to describe opposite relationships and provide various opportunities to recognize this shape.

This is a great concept picture book because it uses aesthetically pleasing graphics to cover what a dot is. This could be used as a part of a unit about shapes, and included in a lesson about circles. The book could be extended to classroom work by having students walk around the classroom/school and find other objects that are the same shape. It is interesting enough that it could be utilized for a teacher-lead read-aloud, and simple enough that a 1st grade student could read the book independently.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dot can be many things. It can be full or hungry, loud or quiet, green or red and many many other things. When you change a dot’s color, shape or texture the world opens before a child’s eyes and the dot that was simply a dot before now becomes something entirely different.

For obvious reasons (the cover) when I initially picked up Dot by Patricia Intriago I thought it was going to be a play on Press Here by Hervé Tullet, which would be nothing short of a compliment as we also love that book as well, but this was completely different. Intriago takes a simple shape, a dot, and turns it into an object that children can relate to.

To be honest, I wasn’t completely sold on this book until I sat down with Littlebug to read it. The way she lit up when we opened the first page to a bright yellow dot was priceless. “Sun!” was what she said but she immediately shaped her hands above her head and grinned knowing she’d just transformed herself into her version of the huge yellow sphere in the sky. From that point on it only got better and better. With each page she would act out with me every emotion & action and by the time we got to the last page she asked to read it again. Which anyone who reads with children will know is worth it’s weight in gold when it comes to good and bad books, with Dot obviously falling in the “great” category.

With it’s minimalistic illustrations and basic text most readers would think Dot is a book that young readers would turn away from, but you’d be completely wrong. Dot by Patricia Intriago is a huge hit in our home! Littlebug continually asks to read and reread Dot because it not only is interactive, but it’s one she can express herself through. Dot helps young readers learn emotions and feelings in a very basic way, but one that will have children’s imaginations reeling as they turn the pages.

My original review was posted at There's A Book.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a mom looking for a good "shapes" book the other day - something besides just basic circles, squares, etc., and I think this could fit the bill. While this book is all about dots, the way the author treats them (by slightly changing their shape) is really clever. She pairs dots to convey various movements, relationships, etc. and changes the shape of the dots slightly to help with the scenarios. For example, a dot with a large pie shape removed is a "loud" dot, and a dot with a tiny pie shape removed is a "quiet" dot. Very nicely done.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another fabulous picture book by a graphic designer. As in Cat Says Meow: and other animalopoeia we're given a very simple concept that is beautifully executed. Young children should grasp the idea easily, and adults will admire how well it is carried out.

Library copy.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dot by Patricia Intraiago | 2011
genre: concept book
format: picture book
plot summary: Pairs of circular shapes convey opposite relationships in the arc of a day.
red flags: none
selection source: School Library Journal
recommended age: toddler, 2-4

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for opposites storytime

[Josh Sonii · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a lot of different types of dots. It starts off with a dot that looks like the sun with a very nice color blue in the background. The title page has a cutout and uses the first page to show the color in the dot. This book shows you all the different varieties of dots that exist out there. There where dots that where many different colors, shapes, and sizes. Then toward the end there were random dots everywhere many of them where different from each other. Will there be even more dots or will the dots disappear?

This is a great story to read to children and it also teaches a very great lesson. It teaches toddlers what certain things mean through the illustrations. For example when the red dot is called a stop dot it teaches children that red usually means stop. There are also many other lessons taught by the illustrations and text. The title page is a cutout that allows the next page to show the color. I feel like the author did it to show that a dot can be any color. The child can put any color he wants into that area and the dot will be that color. This story also teaches kids that there are a lot of dots in the world, but they are each different in their own way. That can also be applied to humans and can help explain to your child why everyone is different. The book also goes from daytime to night time as the the book goes on. By the end of the book it is night time and on the back of the book there is a white dot that represents the moon. They also rhyme a lot throughout the book kind of like Dr.Seuss which teaches children how to rhyme. This book teaches many lesson and is very entertaining. I would recommend it to parents who have toddlers, because it will help them learn things that they may not know yet and it is very easy to read.

[Maribeth Tomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture Book Project

Category: Another Concept Book (Opposites)

Source: Children's Choice Award (2012)

This book will entice readers because of the different ways you can show comparisons of dots.

The front cover resembles the day with a blue cover and a huge yellow dot that looks like it could be the sun. The back cover is the opposite. It resembles night with a black cover and a huge white dot that looks like it could be the moon. This is a clever way to begin discussing opposites. If you take the jacket off the book, the hardcover is the same. It doesn't say what medium is used, but it just looks like ink printed from a computer. The pictures are really simple with simple text to describe the opposite relationship of the two dots. Most of the dots are black.

I like how simple the pictures and the text are and you can tell the opposite relationship that each dot has based on the pictures. A very easy concept book to understand.

I would use this book to discuss opposites. You can talk about antonyms and if you wanted to discuss synonyms, you could do that as well by trying to find more words that mean the same thing. For instance, if there is a fast dot, what other words could be used to describe a fast dot?

[Courtney Turpen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the book I think should win the Caldecot award for a 2011 picture book. It was simply, easy to follow, and most of all it made me smile. It was interesting to see how such a simple one line book can be so fun and eye catching. The lines were very catchy and short. It didn't really have a story line besides all the different kinds of dots there were. There were happy dots, sad dots, empty dots, full dots. The story phrases flowed well and made sense and even rhymed.

The illustrations for this book were great in my opinion, even if they were simple. Such a small line explained so much in this book. I don't think the illustrator could not have drawn this book any better. It would be more for primary ages because of the simple lines and black and white pictures. These easy lines would make it simple for young children to keep their focus and catch their attention.

Overall I gave this book five stars. It was definitely one of my favorite children's books so far. I will read it to kids in the future and hope that their reaction was just as great as mine.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This concept book uses dots to demonstrate opposites and follows the course of a day into night. It opens with a big yellow dot that is very sun-like. Then the simple but very strong graphic design creates a zippy, fun feel as the opposites are demonstrated. Lines are added to show motion and direction. Then chunks are taken out to show additional opposite pairs. The simplicity lends the entire book a vibrancy and sense of humor. Most of the book is done using black and white. When color is used it is done specifically to show a concept, like red for stop and green for go.

The text is just as simple as the illustrations, offering the concepts being shown. It also has a nice rhythm that moves the book forward easily.

Ideal for toddlers and for teaching opposites, this book is simply perfection. Appropriate for ages 1-3. Pair this with Lots of Dots by Craig Frazier for a story time filled with great illustrations and plenty of dotty fun.

[Viri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about all the different types of dots there could be. We start out by descriving them what size they are in and what they do, where they are and where we can find them. As the story goes we see that there are many types of dots around us, and we know what they are representing, if they are happy or sad or hard or soft, you can find all types of information about dots in this book.
The Author Patricia Intriago really makes the dot the center of attention when it is presented so boldy through the pages of this book. It is so funny to see that the different dots are showned clearly and that there is distinctions amoung them and it is not just one simple dot.
I really thought this book was worth the caldecott medal because of its colorful ilustrations and for descriving something so simple and make it exciting and fun for the children in general. That is why this book is my pick of this year's winner of the Caldecott medal of the year.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dot by Patricia Intriago is an opposites book that uses pairs of dots to illustrate concepts. Like many other reviewers, the cover art made think of Press Here by Hervé Tullet (review coming) but Dot ended up having much more re-readability.

Many of the dots are black circles against the start white background. Sometimes the dot isn't a dot or it's distorted. For example, in the "hard dot, soft dot" spread, a finger presses down on the dots. One dot remains circular while the other one appears to give under the pressure. When color is needed, it's used but sparingly.

Early on, red and green are used for "stop dot, go dot." The simplicity of the book reminds me of the earliest pages of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss. It had a similar appeal as Seuss's fish book for my daughter. Before returning it to the library she read it at least a dozen times.

[Joanna Marple · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Stop Dot. Go Dot. Fast Dot. Slow Dot.” This is a uniqique concept book written in very brief, rhythmic text using bold circular shapes of different sizes and numbers to convey opposites a child might come across.

I like this book for its simplicity. It is a fun, tactile, bold and educational book, which will teach young children an array of common opposites from sad and happy to heal and hurt, through circles on the page! Dot helps youngsters learn about emotions in a very accessible way. It is such fun to watch children responding to this book. Who knew that a bunch of circles could be so much of fun! See the book trailer here.

Every double-paged spread will provoke discussion. Also every page can be acted out. Do a story time on opposites.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

All sorts of dots populate these pages, all illustrated with very tiny modifications made to that basic dot. That’s the cleverness of this book, the tiny modifications made to the illustration of the dots that completely change the nature of the dot. This book, seen from a big view, shows how we dots are really all the same, but that we have tiny quirks that make us interesting.

“Dot (pictured is a big yellow dot)
Stop dot (a red dot)
Go dot (a green dot)
Slow dot (dot near the end of a long black line)
Fast dot (dot near the front of a long black line)
Up and down dots
Bounce around (two black dots, one near the top of the page and one near the bottom)”

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dot features simple black and white illustrations of different kinds of dots. Each illustration reflects a particular characteristic about the dots on the page. Children can practice prepositions, learn about sizes and other ways to describe the dots on each page. The book provides an excellent bed time story because it ends with the dots saying good night as they twinkle like stars in the sky. The high contrast minimal illustrations may appeal to children and they variety of adjectives and prepositions will allow children to learn new vocabulary.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! This is a great "opposites" book, and it's so much fun that you won't mind reading it over and over! (Not that you won't still tire of it long before your toddler does, but it's nice to have a fighting chance!) If you know a small child, read this book with them.

(Note: I received a free advance reading copy of this book from the publisher at an American Library Association Annual Conference. I was not required to write a positive review. Thank you, Farrar Straus Giroux!)

[Eyehavenofilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really deserves a 3.8. My only complaint is that its TOO SHORT! Thats why it did not get a 4. Patricia Intriago has a terrific idea, but Iwanted more, more , more! The concept here may be lost on small children, but not on the "tweens", I think they will like it, and be inspired to think of their own "dots"! There should be a website for them to send in their ideas and.......
Perhaps that could be Dot 2.0?

[Latricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dots is a book of opposites which works as well s art as it does a teaching tool. The opposites range from concrete differences in size or shape to more abstract differences like hungry vs full or hurting and healing. A mix of computer generated images and photography create simple but elegant images that match the minimal text.

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reminded me somewhat of Perfect Square. It's all the things that a dot can be. A red dot is referred to as a "stop dot" and a green one as a "go dot." I particularly liked the pages with the Dalmatian ("got dots") and the zebra ("not dots"). A fun concept book to read.

[Shelby Usrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect from this book! But once I read it I was very pleased! I love the inventive ways to explain different characteristics of a simple concept of a dot. Even though there is not a lot of information in this book, I still feel like its a great book for children to read on their own and enjoy a fun simple book!

[Lauran Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but it was a book that does not have a specific meaning or purpose. I do, however, think that this is a cute book for beginning readers. The illustrations are simple, but I like the fact that they aren't just black and white; they also have some color. I didn't think this book was anything special, but, considering the fact that they chose it, I guess children like it.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple and fun concept book that had a lot of appeal to my 1st grader. He asked if we had time for a story before bed and I said sure. Then he starts chanting under his breath 'please be Dot, please be Dot.' So, Dot it was!

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious. Side by side pages show opposites through using a dot. For example, hungry dot which is small and empty, and full dot which is filled in and takes up almost the whole page. It's a very simplistic book mostly in black and white, but it's highly entertaining.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kiddo LOVES this book. Was talking about it before he fell asleep last night.
(After the first day we had the book.)

PS: I just raised my rating to 5 stars after having this book for a month because it has become a family favorite :)
We have a library copy but may have to buy our own.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much the same as _Perfect Square_, this book goes through interesting ways that dots can be seen. It can easily be a way to introduce different art projects and allow children to understand the importance of their creativity.

[Treasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dots, dots everywhere - of all sorts: big, small, hard, soft... even shy!

Such a clever book! Some of the pages made me laugh out loud. Plus, it rhymes, and I'm a sucker for a good rhyming book. I could see this working well in a storytime.

[Kristen Sewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very simple for young children. I would use this in a classroom with kindergarten or first grade students. It will show them illustrations that demonstrate differences between slow and fast, stop and go, soft and hard.

[Robert Farmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting as it was kind of realistic. It was cool how she used numerous different examples of dots and what they are used for. The art was not extraordinary but still very suiting for this particular book.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

With very simple text and page layout, bright colors, and clear contrasts/comparisons, this will appeal to early- and pre-readers, as well as offering beginning readers a fun option for independent reading.

[carrietracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I would have loved this when I was teaching. I would have loved to talk to the kids about how they knew a dot was "yummy" or "loud" or "soft", to see all of their inferences and thinking. I would have loved to have them design their own dots.