All Together Now! Colors Vs. Shapes by Mike Boldt

"WE ARE GOING TO SHOW YOU HOW GREAT SHAPES ARE!"

"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!

YOU SERIOUSLY THINK YOU'RE MORE TALENTED THAN WE ARE?

THIS BOOK IS ALREADY SQUARE!"

The talent competition on stage has just begun, and already the contestants are duking it out for the spotlight.

A crusty old alligator, acting as judge, tries to enforce some order, as the blobs of color rush forward to strut their best stuff.

"FOR STARTERS, STEP BACK AS BLUE AND YELLOW MIX IT UP!

HELLO, GREEN! ENVIOUS?"

But the shapes are not intimidated. They push their way to the front of the stage as two triangles bounce off a trampoline and, ta dum! land as...

A SQUARE!

And it's game on, in a match of Can You Top This? as the Shapes and Colors vie for applause.

Blue and Red make Purple! And the Shapes counter, adding a few more triangles. Voila! A Pentagon! A Hexagon!

The colors go wild, blending into a kaleidoscope of pink and turquoise and maroon and amber all over the stage.

The shapes knock themselves out, morphing into a nonagon, a rhombus, and, egad! An irregular polygon!

The colors and shapes get all mixed up on stage, and then...

SPLAT!

The Unthinkable occurs. RED and OCTAGON collide! The Unthinkable becomes SOMETHING NEW!

Realizing the possibilities that their combination makes actionable, the combined colors and shapes sort themselves into a whole multi-hued cityscape, with trees, houses, skyscrapers, a ship, and even a rainbow! Shapes take on colors, and each color takes its shape.

Everybody is a winner in Mike Boldt's latest concept book, Colors versus Shapes (Harper, 2014), a novel way to teach the basics (and the not-so-common) colors and shapes while slipping in a small plug for cooperation.  Pair this one with Boldt's comic companion book, 123 versus ABC for more competitive concept fun.