Shape Shift

by Joyce Hesselberth

Round, curvy, pointy, or straight-shapes are all around us.

With vibrant illustrations that highlight shapes in all their forms, this informative book reinforces the identification of circles, squares, crescents, diamonds, triangles, rectangles, trapezoids, and ovals while encouraging kids to pair shapes together to make new forms.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Mathematics, Art, Stem, Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 12, 2016

Reviews

[The Library Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

We have a felt covered table at my library that has tons of different colored geometric shapes we cut out for the kids, and I regularly find wonderful creations that children from toddlers to teens have made there. So it saddens me to see that Ms Hesselberth is marketing shape and color apps for the IPad, and for that reason I have removed a star from the rating for this excellent book.

With due respect to her, I hope that instead of buying her apps, parents and caregivers will read this book. And then they should read similar great books by Michael Hall and [a:Ellen Stoll Walsh|80271|Ellen Stoll Walsh|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophot... , and then sit down with some construction paper or felt and make some lovely tactile shapes that they can use with their kids!

[Ariel Cummins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, interactive picture book that challenges kids to imagine what different shapes make when they're put together.

The digital artwork on this one is technically great, but something about it just doesn't do it for me. I can't put my finger on exactly what, though! Each double-page spread features a small (and I do mean small - barely 1"x1" box with the silhouette of the shape combination, a couple of sentences about what the characters think they see, and a full-color rendition of what they imagine.

This book would be great for a shape storytime for preschoolers, especially if you cut out felt board versions of the shapes and let the kids decide what they saw each time, too. It would also be a great fit for a storytime about imagination - maybe paired with "It's Not a Box!"

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit like a Rorschach test combined with shapes. Different shapes are combined and then creative associations are applied to the combinations. I really liked the shapes at the end that encourage the reader to come up with their own creative responses.

Overall, a nice picture book that encourages readers to identify the shapes they see everyday around them.

Digital artwork. PreK-2

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for sparking imagination. What shapes do you see in the world around you? If you combine shapes what do they look like? The children in the story demonstrate examples and then challenge readers with a page of assorted shape combos.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciate how this book enables the reader to use their own imagination, to create one of their own entities from the shapes that are put together within the book.

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

This could lead into an awesome art project about shapes for preschool/kinder kids.

[Michelle Farella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a different way to do a shape book. I love it!

[Jason Rossi]

This original and entertaining book for children to learn about shapes. The book shows shapes in textured pastel colors, the name of the shape is in the center of the shapes to help the children associate the shape with its name. The author uses the shapes to make everyday things, such as a watermelon or he combines shapes to create a whimsical bicycle. The book uses deep dark commanding colors on some illustrations and then switches it up with soft textured looking pastels. The author uses a wide variety of words to help young readers learn. The author has won several awards for design and illustrations, and she developed a shape and colors app for iOS devices. The book is well crafted, with vibrant colors and thick pages. The fun pictures of kids and animals made up of different shapes helps kids stay focused and learn. I recommend this book for young children that are learning to read and learning about shapes. The author also asks questions throughout the book which helps children develop critical thinking skills.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking shapes and using imagination to turn them into something.

If I were a teacher, I'd scan the last 2 pages and give kids copies. With black pens/markers they could add the details to make the shapes what they see.

I'd also try to have manipulatives with the same shapes for everyone to work with.

Maybe ask people what other shape they'd want?

Good for shape identification (triangle, semicircle, crescent, trapezoid, rectangle, circle, oval, diamond, square). For things like triangle, crescent, trapezoid, rectangle, and oval that can be stretched/re-proportioned, it doesn't do it -- everything's the same as it is on the intro page.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really fun -- combining pairs or trios of shapes in different ways and seeing what they look like, imagining different contexts for them. Throughout the book, the two kids each propose a context for the groupings. The end pages are other arrangements of shapes, asking the reader what they see.

It would also be fun for kids to come up with new ways to combine the shapes or to do something similar with different shapes.

[Keaton Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Book. Really fun and colorful with great illustrations. This book is great, especially for little kids, because it familiarizes them with shapes and colors. It also is good for interactive read aloud because it has questions built into the book. Overall fun, educational, and good for engagement.

[Vo Khon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watch the author drawing with basic background (some shape) .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR6dU...
Read aloud book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhNQu...
This book is about some shape attached each other and we will imagine what does it look like.
At the end of this book has some other shape for us to do.
Creative book

[SBC · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this with my toddler and I'm not sure he really grasped the concept - he may have been a little too young for it. It's a book about geometric shapes. A boy and girl (also made of geometric shapes) play a game where they put shapes together then each say what they see. The art work wasn't really to my taste but the concept was interesting.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept for a book - I liked the emphasis on creativity, and the segment at the back where the characters don't provide any "right" answers. A neat way to get kids thinking about shapes as they interact with the world.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids had a lot of fun trying to come up with different things that the combined shapes might make. This book could be used to come up with different creative exercises to do with students in art class.

[Kristin Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that a shape creation could be more than one thing, depending on who was looking at it. This book inspired us to get out the pattern blocks and create all sorts of things: hot air balloon, rocket, motorcycle, trees, bugs, cakes...

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readers get to observe and then create with various shapes. The two narrators combine different shapes to make different objects. I appreciate the simple to follow text and look forward to sharing with lower elementary classes.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different shapes are moved around to create images. The reader is given two shapes then sees what they can be. Very imaginative but for older audiences. Preschool and up.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice interactive book that gets the imagination going. The first page introduces 9 different shapes. They take 2-3 shapes, put them together and tell what they see. What will you see?

[Daniel Pool · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd. Not sure what kid this is for.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking at shapes in different ways
creative

[Charleston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charleston loved looking for the moon (i.e. the crescent)!

[Joseph Matuch · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids enjoyed this book, but mainly for the last couple pages where you decide what you think the shapes look most like.

[Jessalyn Plant · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much fun!!

[Victoria Rimes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book really fun. Students were inspired to create their own drawings using simple shapes.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever

[Hallie Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

[Haley Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book because it described shapes and how to put them together to make things to students. I would use this in a K-3rd grade setting, and I would classify this book as an information concept book. Shape Shift was published in 2016.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly complex book on the pairing of simple shapes into abstract multi component figures. Good introduction to basic geometry for the preschool set.

[Venus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review originally posted on Children's Atheneum

There have been a lot of shape books coming out lately. As someone who used to work at a bookstore, I can tell you that concept books like shapes were not exactly the most popular books around although people did certainly buy them. Like the issues books about sadness or having a baby sister/brother, these books are geared at a very specific demographic and after a while they do start to all feel the same. Last spring I was blown away by Steve Light's Have You Seen My Monster? that included both a story and interesting shape concepts. For me, this book lacked that kind of pizzazz. The illustrations were vibrant and inviting, but there wasn't much in the book that set it apart. It very much reminded me of when I was a kid and they used shapes in school to teach basic geometry and mathematical concepts. Although this book tried to make shapes whimsical, identifying what shapes could look like, as if they were Rorschach clouds, it felt like too much for the age group that this is geared towards. And maybe this is a bit petty, but the children in this book look a little creepy.