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Pick a Circle, Gather Squares: A Fall Harvest of Shapes
Fall is here, with all its wonderful visual delights―not just colors, but shapes! This clever concept book follows a family on a trip to a pumpkin patch and invites children to pick out shapes from the seasonal scenery―apple bushel circles, square hay bales, diamond kites in the autumn sky! Felicia Sanzari Chernesky’s sweet verses are perfectly complemented by Susan Swan’s gorgeous collage-inspired art.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2013
2 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
September 25, 2020
I'm not a huge fan of the style of illustrations but I appreciate the way the shapes are woven fairly seamlessly into an actual story with lots of autumn and harvest-time atmosphere.
December 1, 2020
This was not the favorite of the autumn-themed books that I checked out from the library but I can see where younger children than my own would have a fun time pointing out all the shapes in the illustrations.
November 9, 2023
This book was creative with the fall festive culture. I did not enjoy the style of it. It did have creative ways of counting and identifying shapes.
October 11, 2022
It's a story about a dad and his two kiddos who visit a pumpkin farm in October.
Illustrations were created by Susan Swan who uses digital cut paper and mixed media. It is FULL of color and lots of layers. It might be better suited for a lap book then a group setting, but the story fit the theme well. The amount of text also was just right for my storytime. I supplemented the story with flannel shapes on the flannelboard. At the end of the book, we counted our shapes and then counted backwards as we removed them from the board.
2022 storytime theme: harvest
Reviewed from a library copy.
Illustrations were created by Susan Swan who uses digital cut paper and mixed media. It is FULL of color and lots of layers. It might be better suited for a lap book then a group setting, but the story fit the theme well. The amount of text also was just right for my storytime. I supplemented the story with flannel shapes on the flannelboard. At the end of the book, we counted our shapes and then counted backwards as we removed them from the board.
2022 storytime theme: harvest
Reviewed from a library copy.
October 8, 2025
This is a fun rhyming book that is perfect for reading aloud with children on a Fall day. The multimedia illustrations are colorful with many different patterns and textures. And the narrative is short, with a large font and encourages children to participate in finding various shapes within the pictures.
October 2, 2021
Obviously I’m not the demographic for this book, but I wanted to check out some fall books for my nieces and this caught my attention because they seem to like finding things in books. I may have to revise my rating if they enjoy it.
For me I liked the story of going to a pumpkin patch (that’s where I’d be sharing this book with them even) but the art wasn’t doing it for me. There were just too many textures going on, I wanted something a little more solid! For sure some of the paper cut decoupage stuff is lovely, I just felt like there was an unnecessary amount of noise on the pages when I’m trying to look for shapes. Just a book about a trip to a pumpkin patch could maybe handle all the distractions adding texture to the story, I just found it too much. It may be an issue of reading on my phone that wouldn’t be so bad with a little more space reading a physical book. Just turning my phone sideways to get the full spread even if it’s a little small for reading is a little easier to handle.
For me I liked the story of going to a pumpkin patch (that’s where I’d be sharing this book with them even) but the art wasn’t doing it for me. There were just too many textures going on, I wanted something a little more solid! For sure some of the paper cut decoupage stuff is lovely, I just felt like there was an unnecessary amount of noise on the pages when I’m trying to look for shapes. Just a book about a trip to a pumpkin patch could maybe handle all the distractions adding texture to the story, I just found it too much. It may be an issue of reading on my phone that wouldn’t be so bad with a little more space reading a physical book. Just turning my phone sideways to get the full spread even if it’s a little small for reading is a little easier to handle.
August 13, 2017
A good shape concept book for young readers, particularly around Autumn as it focuses on pumpkin picking time and the shapes a child recognizes all around the farm they visit. A pleasant read to share with children.
August 11, 2023
Take a hayride in the sweet-smelling autumn.
Your tour guide isn't only Daddy, but super-creative author Felicia Sanzari Chernesky.
And the passengers on this hayride aren't just a boy and a girl, both of picture bo0k age: All of us Goodreaders get to go along for the ride.
Most exciting of all, without seeming to offer anything officially educational, this book delivers a terrific lesson in how to recognize shapes.
Finally, love is another ingredient in "Pick a Circle, Gather Squares." As in this dear quote:
Collect the SHAPES, and pumpkins, too.
Dad, I'll make a HEART for you!
FIVE STARS to Felicia Sanzari Chernesky, and also to that un-self-conscious creator of beauty, illustrator Susan Swan.
Your tour guide isn't only Daddy, but super-creative author Felicia Sanzari Chernesky.
And the passengers on this hayride aren't just a boy and a girl, both of picture bo0k age: All of us Goodreaders get to go along for the ride.
Most exciting of all, without seeming to offer anything officially educational, this book delivers a terrific lesson in how to recognize shapes.
Finally, love is another ingredient in "Pick a Circle, Gather Squares." As in this dear quote:
Collect the SHAPES, and pumpkins, too.
Dad, I'll make a HEART for you!
FIVE STARS to Felicia Sanzari Chernesky, and also to that un-self-conscious creator of beauty, illustrator Susan Swan.
September 14, 2022
In this picture book, there are many different shapes found in the illustrations. This would be good for little children because after a teacher gets finished reading the page, they can point out different shapes that they have spotted. Readers can associate the word to the shape since the name of every shape on the page is in bold and uppercase letters. The rhymes in the text will help children find this story silly and give them places to look. It can also be used as a seasonal book to be read during the fall. The illustrations are very colorful and realistic. They would definitely catch the reader's attention.
September 17, 2018
Pick A Circle, Gather Squares A Fall Harvest of Shapes, This story could be used to engage children in many different ways and provide them with knowledge. Children could learn their shapes and make connections to real objects, they could use the colorful illustrations to stimulate the eye and make connections to the fall season, and lastly bring out other areas of mathematics and science. This is a fun story for parents or teachers to use with their younger children or students.
Randi T(3703 class)
Randi T(3703 class)
December 16, 2022
10/20/22 - "Harvest"
Began with some felt shapes to prep the kids to recognize the shapes on the pages. The felt was a hit, but I think it went on for too long and then the littler ones lost interest in the book. The older preschoolers were engaged in picking out the shapes in the illustrations, but the younger kids were distracting.
Next time, perhaps I would shorten the felt portion, or use it along with the book rather than before it.
Began with some felt shapes to prep the kids to recognize the shapes on the pages. The felt was a hit, but I think it went on for too long and then the littler ones lost interest in the book. The older preschoolers were engaged in picking out the shapes in the illustrations, but the younger kids were distracting.
Next time, perhaps I would shorten the felt portion, or use it along with the book rather than before it.
June 25, 2024
3.5 stars rounded to 4, because I didn't want my rating to bring the average down. :) It's a pretty sweet book, and would be very good for revisiting shapes. There was nothing new in here for us, that we haven't seen in other books about shapes, hence 3.5 stars. Would be fun to borrow and read from the library. :)
September 29, 2019
Short simple sentences and fun rhymes on each page. The story is about a family on a farm and orchard during the fall and the readers pick out different shapes in each page based on what the children are seeing on the farm such as round pumpkins and hexagonal honeycombs.
September 30, 2019
Short, simple sentences identifying shapes all around at the pumpkin patch farm. A little long for the youngest set, but paperclip together a few pages (like the one about hexagons, which 2 year olds won't get anyway) together and it's a great story for reading to a group.
June 4, 2018
A great way to introduce shapes with a fall theme.
February 3, 2018
Nicely illustrated, covers all the shapes from round to star shaped.
October 9, 2018
Fall is here! This book allows children to play with shapes. It's a Fall harvest of shapes! The images in this book are beautiful and full of bright fall colors.
September 29, 2019
Excited to use this book with a robotics activity! I like the pairing of fall with shapes!
October 4, 2019
Each page features a fall scene and a shape used in the scene with short text. Toddler and up
October 6, 2019
This is a great book that introduces kids to shapes that you see the fall season.
October 9, 2019
3.5 stars
October 24, 2019
Used for fall storytime. Good for shape concepts recognition.
January 24, 2020
What a great fall classic!
October 30, 2020
Love the illustrations. It is a fun Fall read and is great for doing a quick review of shapes. It was interactive for my kindergarteners, which I always love.
November 30, 2020
A book to help preschoolers with shape recognition and counting
October 25, 2022
Great for kids interested in shapes and rhymes! Interesting mixed and layered media styles for the art.
October 30, 2022
A family spends a day at the pumpkin patch and notice shapes around them. Great for toddlers and preschoolers
September 12, 2023
Not a fan of couplets in picture books. But the book teaches great concets with shapes and the harvest
March 23, 2017
The pumpkin farm provides the perfect backdrop for exploring shapes on this fall day.
October 7, 2018
This book can be a great read aloud! Especially to younger grades when fall is about to start where throughout the book they can shout out the shapes they see! It can easily be made very interactive and fun! Genre: Concept Book Year: 2013
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews