Shapes at Play

by Jin Choi, Jin Choi (Illustrator)

Overview

Shapes like to play. They like hiding inside other shapes. They might appear different, or completely disappear, but when you divide them, subtract them, enlarge them, turn them, slide them, or flip them, you will see what they are and how they hide. In this simple book, you can discover basic concepts of transformational geometry, scale, proportion, axis, symmetry, and reflection. Can you find all of the playful shapes?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595729040
Publisher:	Star Bright Books, Incorporated
Publication date:	10/15/2020
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	150,257
Product dimensions:	4.25(w) x 4.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Jin Choi was born and raised in South Korea. She earned a Master’s degree in architecture at Yale University, where she met her husband, Thomas. Together, they founded an architectural practice in Boston, with projects ranging from product design and architecture to infrastructure and public art installations. Jin first created Shapes at Play, then a handcrafted book, for their child when he was only a few months old. She wanted to “tickle his brain” with shapes that are related and transformed and demonstrate how to recognize them. With the inspiring giggles and contemplative long gazes she received from her son, Jin was encouraged to create more books for young children in the future. Visit her website at www.choishine.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2021-01-27
This eye-catching look at shapes and spatial relationships has no text, but it should speak volumes to children eager to grasp and explore the physical world.

The images in this clever board book have a clean, well-composed look that one might find in an album of excellent graphic design. Brightly colored, seemingly unrelated shapes lie on a clean white background with fold-out flaps laid over them. Unfold the flaps, and images separate, segment, or rotate, and relationships between the shapes come into focus. Caregivers, be prepared to name shapes (remember the difference between a parallelogram and a trapezoid?) or to describe the visual changes depicted in the book. Of course, this book doesn’t necessarily require a grown-up to decipher it. The images and interactions offer enough visual and tactile appeal to entertain and provoke thought without help. A blue rectangle faces a red hexagon of equal height. Unfolding the flap splits the hexagon and widens it to the width of that rectangle. Voilà; it’s an octagon. Open the flap on a yellow house to split the square “house” from the triangular roof. A red ice cream cone becomes a sphere and a cone. A diamond made from two triangles opens to reveal a larger triangle made up of four equilateral triangles. Removing a small circle from the edge of a larger one leaves a circle and a crescent.

Engages young minds by engaging their fingers. (Board book/novelty. 2-4)

Kirkus Reviews