Shape Capers

by Cathryn Falwell

Shapes! Circles Squares Triangles Semicircles Rectangles What can you do with them? Anything! Everything! The only limit is your imagination. Come on! Let's go on a shape caper!

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Mathematics, Childrens, Fiction, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 21, 2007

Reviews

[Myriale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shape Capers by Cathryn Falwell is an amazing information book for young children. Throughout this book the author/illustrator teaches children about multiple shapes. It introduces shapes and shows different shapes within one picture. I will definitely be using this book in my future classroom!

[Angelica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! Au enjoyed this at 29 months.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a group of children discover a box full of circles, squares, triangles, semicircles and rectangles, they use their imagination and play to have lots of fun with them, and each other.

[Aurelia S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! Au enjoyed this at 29 months.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

can't wait to do this one with my toddlers. I can see them shaking now as we pull shapes from a bin. Five shapes are introduced in a fun way and then their uses are explained. Toddler and up.

[Bonnie Ferrante · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Collins’ greatest talent lies in his illustrations. The cartoonish exaggeration will make children laugh out loud. It is the first day of holidays, and Ben is going to make the most of it. He rides his bike, hunts for sharks, paints a picture, jumps in puddles, and does far, far more. The little boy’s exuberance and delight with his experiences is clearly apparent on every page. His gentle enthusiasm for life is contagious.

The story is more of an anecdote than a plot. Ben is happy that it is the first day of summer and he isn’t going to waste a minute. He enjoys the day to the fullest and collapses happily into bed when night arrives. The rhyming text, sometimes ABAC and sometimes rhyming couplets, are well matched to the fast, fun filled pace of the child’s adventures.

There is no conflict in the story, no rising tension, no problem to solve. It is a simple romp from dawn till dusk. Not once does Ben resort to any screens for entertainment. Many of his toys and activities could be done by any child. This would be a great book to share with the child on holiday who says, “I’m bored.”

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preschool-age children demonstrate how to combine shapes to make objects
in this cut paper, paint, and ink picture book. The children, who are of varying ethnicities,dance across the pages having fun as they build objects out of basic shapes. Emphasis is on the shapes, which are brightly colored with a lot of white space surrounding them, and how children can use their imaginations to create objects out of them. The book ends with hidden shape page challenging readers to find shapes and instructions on how to make shape pictures. This book is wonderful for teaching shapes and would work well as an instructional tool in the classroom or home. It is a good source of inspiration for a child to create their own pictures using shapes. I like how distinctly Falwell illustrated the shapes, but don’t like how busy the pages are because the children wear patterned clothing. The emphasis on imagination is refreshing, as is the inclusion of children from different ethnicities playing together.

[Peanut · Rating 4 out of 5]

MOMMY: This rating was tricky in that I thought the book was good but Peanut absolutely loved it. So we settled squarely in the middle. His love of this book and motivation to read it makes the 4 stars more than fair. Simple (if not slightly outdated) illustrations show different shapes. The colors are primary and the characters themselves in black and white. I think this would be a good book for little ones because of the bold pictures and rhyming text. Each spread focuses on a different shape and what kinds of things and pictures you can make out of them.

PEANUT: Shape Capers was an immediate hit for him. The text is rhyming and repetitive so that by the second bedtime story session he was repeating it back to us. A few weeks in and I could hear him reading it to himself in his room. We read it most night over the course of the entire library checkout, even after extending it twice. He cried when I had him give it back to the librarian and so he now has a copy at his grandparent's house.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children shake a box of shapes. Each time a new shape comes out the box. The children describe the shape and do different movements with the shape. At the end, they build new things out the shape. Finally, the book asks children to count the different shapes on a page. The last page suggests children cut out their own shapes and make pictures. The book provides consistent verse and vocabulary about different kinds of shapes. I thought the shapes chosen were odd. For example, the book features a semi circle, which doesn't seem like a basic shape. It includes rectangles, triangles, circles and squares. It does not contain any shape with more than four sides.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of kids display various shapes and how they can become other things. This can definitely be used for story time if I have the kids identify the shapes. When we get to pages where shapes make objects we can ask them what they see. The art style is very geometric which works and also very bright and colorful.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Used this one for a storytime on shapes.

Introduces different shapes individually (circle, square, triangle, semicircle, rectangle) and then shows different ways to combine them to make other things.

Good for introducing each shape but I like "The Shape of Things" by Dayle Ann Dodds better for combining shapes.

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific little concept book for teachers and parents wanting something about shapes. This reads well and kids will have fun looking at the pictures and seeing all the ways they can play with shapes.

[Monalisa Johnson-brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about different shapes. The book talks about triangle, circle, semicircle square, and rectangles. We can use the shapes to make different things like rectangles can make ladders and semicircle can make boats. The shapes can be put together and make one big item.

[Tdavis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Letter Knowledge isn't just about ABC's. Shape recognition is the beginning! This is great book to discuss shapes and use one’s imagination to create objects with shapes.


Early Literacy Skills:

Letter Knowledge
Print Awareness

[Andrew Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This doesn't really have a story/plot it simply introduces different shapes to the reader. This book would be good for a math lesson on shapes and how everything is made of objects of different shapes.

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm needing to expand beyond letters, colors, and numbers in my stortimes... this would be good to use with preschoolers.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my son's super-favorite bedtime books. The rhymes present the shapes in a captivating way. The way the illustrations utilize each shape to create entire scenes is impressive and engaging.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little longer and with more characters than the author's Shake A Shape, this volume has the same exuberance and charming blocky colors. A great choice for classroom use with fours and up.

[Miss Janis the Storytime Lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun. Good shapes, colors. talking about what one can do with shapes, what we might see in the room that is any given shape.

[Tina B · Rating 2 out of 5]

"shapes, concept books, introduce shapes then make shape pictures, great graphics"

[Felicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

good way to introduce shapes, that they are in our world and that you can make pictures with them.