What Is Round?

by Maria Ferrari

An entertaining concept book introduces beginning readers to circles through a collection of amusing, easy-to-read poems and full-color photographs of circular objects, such as cookies and balloons.

Genres: Mathematics, Childrens, Poetry

21 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[Lynda Breithaupt-Muenzer]

Dotlich, Rebecca Kai. What is Round? (1999). This shape concept book is about things that are round. Each page has a full, bright color background with photograph style pictures of round objects. This provides the opportunities for children to recognize colors and real life objects as well. The sentences are missing a verb when describing the pictures, but have a sing-song flow with rhymes intertwined. This of course, makes it amusing for children to follow. The words tangerine and garbanzo beans are used on the very first page which might seem unfamiliar for young children, but it's a great way to learn some new words and what they are. Target audience: 18 months to 5 years old.

[Carol Farrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that photos of real and familiar objects are used. I also appreciate that it alternates between food items and other objects. The last page to the back cover is a challenge page for children to pick what is round vs. square. This can be expanded to their environment by looking for things that are round in their home, daycare/school or outside.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

An introduction for young children to circles and roundness. The photographs and variety of objects are useful on their own, but could also be taken one step further by searching for those same objects throughout one's house and matching them.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

In What is Round? by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, young students are introduced to all of kinds of things that are round. This simple book is a great read-aloud for kindergarten students as they discover circles on every page. The big book format makes a whole group reading accessible for all students, and the real-life photographs help students to transfer the learning of shapes to their own lives.
I used this book to discuss shapes that are round by defining that round means that there are not straight lines. The students then identified things that are round in the book, then in our classroom, and we even took our lesson outdoors to find shapes without straight lines around the school. This is a great book to use to introduce shapes, such as circles, and the idea that there are straight lines and non-straight lines.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Is Round is a fantastic book for young children who are learning their shapes. On each page, the reader will find several images of things that are round. Everything is simply labeled. A variety of things are presented for the child to add to their mental encyclopedia of round things; tangerines, melons, nickels, pennies, buttons and more! The last two pages of the book feature an arrangement of different objects that are different shapes. The words on these pages invite the reader to practice their shapes by identifying the items that are round.
The pictures are real photographs. The focal points of the photographs are nicely emphasized and the object placement is done in a way that draws attention to the round objects. The book is full of bright colors that will be pleasing to young children.
This book is best suited for a one-on-one situation. Children will benefit from being directly in front of this book with the ability to point to the objects. This book is a great book to use to reinforce shape identification.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something to consider when looking at this book is the real mathematical definitions of the shapes. Round is something and circle is different than sphere. Still, I like that this gets kids thinking about the general shape of things.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read at Toddler Lap Time on 5/9/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A shape concept picture book using actual photographs of objects.