Shaping Up! Round As A Tortilla A Book of Shapes by Roseanne Greenfield Thong

ROUND ARE THE CAMPANAS THAT CHIME AND RING.

ROUND ARE THE NESTS WHERE SWALLOWS SING.

I CAN NAME MORE ROUND THINGS. CAN YOU?

Books about shapes are many and varied, essential for preschool education when youngsters learn all the usual geometric shapes--round, square, triangular, rectangular, and sometimes more, done in varying styles of art and in degrees of complexity.

Roseanne Grenfield Thong's Round Is a Tortilla: A Book of Shapes (Chronicle Books) includes all the usual shapes with a twist--some engaging lessons in Spanish along the way. Most kids know what a tortilla is--a  round form of bread made from corn or wheat, crisp or soft, and often wrapped around some sort of filling, as in a taco or quesadilla. But many other things have something round to them, a trumpet's bell, a bird's nest, a sombrero's brim, and the top of a stew pot. And within the jolly rhyming lines, students are challenged to come up with other things that they know are round, and artist John Parra's folklorish illustrations provide many examples of the featured shape on each page.

Other shapes included are the square (cuadrado) illustrated by windows and photos and even the town's central square downtown. Rectangular flags fly from on high. Triangles turn up as chips for dips or sails that move sailing ships. And ovals--they can be seen in the shapes of solid things, like eggs, (huevos), olives, and lots of beans!

HOW MANY MORE DO YOU KNOW?

With a glossary of Spanish words used in the text and clever rhyming lines, this book is a novel introduction to shapes with illustrations featuring to puzzle out while picking up a few new words. Share this one with Thong and Parra's companion book, Green Is a Chile Pepper: A Book of Colors.