Squares, Rectangles, and Other Quadrilaterals

by David A. Adler

Geometry is demystified in a new addition to a popular and amusing series of math picture books from a trusted team.

Comical cats and dogs guide kids through the essential characteristics of squares, rectangles, parallelograms, rhomboids, and other quadrilaterals. Angles and degrees are explained in words and useful visuals. Kids will get a handle on geometric vocabulary and can try out plenty of hands-on activities that will help reinforce the concepts. A glossary is included.

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

32 pages, Hardcover

Published December 24, 2018

About the author

David Abraham Adler is an American children's author. He was born in New York City, New York in 1947. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.

Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.

Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.

As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

My friends have heard me bemoan my experiences in my high school geometry class where I was completely lost for most of the year. If only David Adler's books had been available, I might have understood the concepts about shapes that my teacher was trying so diligently to get me to understand. In this book, colorful dogs and cats help readers navigate the world of polygons that are four sided. It covers the concept of angles, degrees and special types of quadrilaterals with several different simple but meaningful activities that even I can understand. (Well, I think I understand, but please don't test me on my comprehension of all this.) And then, in order to insure that readers can apply what they've learned, there are problems to solve. There is a helpful glossary of terms at the end of the book. The end papers feature various shapes, including a rectangle, a square, a trapezoid, and a rhombus. Because so many students are visual learners and need to see shapes such as these in order to understand what they are reading about, this feature is quite helpful. Math teachers who haven't caught on to the helpful books of David Adler really need to take a look at this one and his others. His simple but careful way of explaining his topic makes it easier to digest as well as to put into practice.

[Maggie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Squares, Rectangles, and Quadrilaterals, it brought to light more insight on shapes and angles. I loved how each page started off with a question to get the reader to think more critically about geometry. Although this book goes into depth about definitions and uses stronger vocabulary, I would have students in grades 4th or 5th suited to read this book because they would have the capacity to know how to pronounce words and understand their meanings said in the book. I believe it is very important for the books to have visuals when describing math because it can get a little confusing. To help with all the text in the book, the author bolded important words and phrases that are very helpful when reading this book. The one thing I do not like about this book is that the text is kind of all over the place, so it might confuse the students even more. Throughout the book, it has a little activity that the students can do all on their own. However, I will probably prompt the instructions and use this activity because we can hang up all their hard work in the classroom and halls to show what we learned. We will be using rulers, pencils, paper, and scissors to create quadrilaterals. Reading this book and doing an activity aids visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 2 out of 5]

Squares, Rectangles, and other Quadrilaterals by David A. Adler, illustrated by Edward Miller. PICTURE BOOK. Holiday House, 2018. $19. 97808234337597

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

The narrator, implied to be a dog and a cat, talk to the reader, directing them to look and point at different parts of the illustrations. The illustrations and text explain terms like “quadrilateral” and “vertex” and use these to teach how the degrees in a square add up to 360. At the end of the text there are several hands on activities explained that support the ideas in the book.

I struggled with this book because the illustrations are so young looking, but the ideas seem quite advanced. I’m sure a teacher could guide young readers through this text, but I don’t think a young reader would get much out of it alone.

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Teresa Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adler writes exceptional books dealing with math and science concepts. In this volume he explores four-sided geometric figures--squares, rectangles, parallelograms, trapezoids and more. Readers learn about angles, mathematical principles that apply to quadrilaterals, and how they are defined. There's a lot of information packed in here, and a lot of good vocabulary. Bright bold illustrations show key points, and there's plenty of room for readers to experiment. This is another great math book that both teachers and students will embrace.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea is great, but this book throws a *lot* of information at the reader in a small package. There are lots of big words - clearly defined in the text and the glossary, but still big - and a seemingly endless supply of "special" quadrilaterals. Squares and rectangles, sure - but kites and rhombuses, parallelograms, and several different kinds of trapezoids. I'm a grown adult, and it gave me a headache trying to take in everything.
One thing the book does well is provide very clear "experiments" to prove the concepts it teaches.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Read this again and see if these statements are correct.

Polygon = 2 dimensional figure with 4 straight sides

Quadrilateral = sum of all angles = 360 degrees

Square = 4 sides same length & 4 right angles
Rectangle = opposite sides are of equal length
Parallelogram=opposite sides are parallel
Rhombus= all 4 sides are the same
Trapezoid = 1 pair of parallel sides
Kite = 2 pairs of equal sides

[Marcie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The team behind Circles, and Triangles, now bring Squares, Rectangles, and other Quadrilaterals. Friendly dogs and cats illustrations guide readers through the components that make up quadrilaterals of all kinds, with a few hands-on projects to “test” shapes on their own. Although a simple picture book, it may sometimes overwhelm younger readers with the vocabulary and illustrations of angles, rulers, vertices, and degrees. This book is ideal for 2nd grade and up.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some, like myself, who loved high school geometry. This picture book explodes with color and logic as it illustrates the world of angels and polygons. Love it!

[K Morlando · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good resource for our math lessons.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much from this book that I had learned as a kid but obviously chose not to bake it on my brain.

[Launna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little advanced for my young crew. A good explanation but pretty advanced for the picture book age.

[Wylaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An elementary nonfiction guide to squares with great examples and simple experiemnets to prove the information presented.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good review for Kait and mostly new info for Maddie. I liked that there were activities to do to better understand.

[Sophia Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read “Squares, rectangles, and other Quadrilaterals” Wow. It was a lot of mathematical terms and information. The flip leaf prepares us for geometrical vocabulary but I did not realize it would be THIS much mathematical vocab. It is more of an informational text rather than fun to read aloud picture book.
I would recommend it but I would have a viewer digression advisory note that it is a lot of math terms with a lot of math work along with it. It is definitely for older kids not just fun to look at the book. It has interactive work you can do with your own scissors, markers, ruler, and paper. But it has a lot of great discussion around how the angles of squares add up to 360 degrees and that is a circle and the difference between all the four-sided shapes we know.
There is not exactly a storyline as it is more just informational and tells us about shapes, but the illustrations of cute cats and dogs doing math are great. I probably could have picked a different picture book but from just looking t the cover I thought it would have a plotline while it was more informational.
Yes, this mainly discusses subjects for older students. I could see this as in an introductory book for maybe 3rd-grade students to prepare for what geometry could be in the future so they can hear the terms and not be shocked when they hear them again later. But this book is not for kindergarteners as it has lots of words on pages and many terms that can be complex.
I feel like I actually learned while reading this and that is why it could be difficult for younger students. This book is appropriate for 3rd-6th graders. Depending on what students have learned in math or are learning this could be a great book to have in the classroom or it could be too much.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an adult who finds math overwhelming, I found this book overwhelming. I thought it threw a lot of concepts at you all at once, although it did have some good activities. Would recommend for older elementary, despite being a picture book format.

[Susan]

I loved that this was hands-on and had easy experiments you could do to help you think about angles and shapes! (The kid loved it, too.)

Not enough on its own, but certainly a great way to explore and gain understanding, and hands-on is ALWAYS a good way to go. Not to mention, this is cute and fun!