When a Line Bends . . . A Shape Begins - Softcover

Rhonda Gowler Greene

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0618152415 ISBN 13: 9780618152414

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2001

Synopsis

A line is thin. A line is narrow—curved like a worm, straight as an arrow. Squares, circles, triangles, and many more shapes abound in this lively book. With jaunty, rhyming text, young readers are invited to find different shapes on each busy, vibrant page. Once you start looking, you won’t be able to stop! The perfect book for little ones beginning to distinguish shapes.

About this title

About the Author:

HONDA GOWLER GREENE is a former elementary and preschool teacher. She received her master's in educational media from Xavier University in 1983. She is also the author of Barnyard Song. 

James Kaczman received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Massachusetts College of Art in 1982 and also studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He lives in a beautiful, green valley somewhere in the North, where he is a full-time illustrator. He resides there with his wife, Libby, his son, Henry, and a wire fox terrier named Chauncey, who is a funny, charming fellow.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Cataloging several examples for each of ten regular shapes, Greene develops in an ever-changing rhyme scheme the premise that all shapes are made from bent lines. It's an eye-opening insight for readers, but confusing when blocks are considered square, a bubble, marble, and ``curled kitten'' are included in the list of circles, and ``star'' is defined as ``the shape of a fish.'' Readers may also falter at the triangle spread, since the three blocks of text are placed so that it's hard to tell in what order they're to be read; the ``tent built just for you'' has a triangular opening, but what children will notice is the diamond- shaped side. Kaczman's picture-book debut features a set of stylized, evenly colored, very simply drawn scenes, sometimes viewed from playfully skewed angles or featuring sight gags--a police officer chowing down on a doughnut, a kilted man playing hopscotch. Still, an instructional intent hangs heavy over this, and the examples are not always on target; a better book on the topic is Dayle Ann Dodds's The Shape of Things (1994). (Picture book. 4-6) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0618152415
• ISBN 13: 9780618152414
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: James Kaczman