This Is a Book of Shapes - by Kenneth Kraegel (Board Book)

About the Book

What begins as a concept book about everyday shapes soon defies expectations with a series of funny and imaginative twists.

Book Synopsis

The creator of King Arthur's Very Great Grandson and Green Pants switches gears with a slyly silly introduction to shapes--just watch out for the emus!

First comes the circle. Then the square and the triangle. Then the . . . emu pushing a pancake wagon down a hill? What begins as a concept book about everyone's geometric favorites soon defies expectations with a series of funny and imaginative twists. Award-winning author-illustrator Kenneth Kraegel pairs a deadpan text with simple wood-grained shapes, interspersed with vibrant illustrations of animals engaged in hilariously absurd pastimes. Each page turn builds on the delicious anticipation the contrast creates to make this a unique and rollicking story-time hit.

Review Quotes

Concept books come with expectations, and everybody knows them. Mastering basic shapes is a key element for preschool readiness, and everybody knows that. Kraegel breaks, most delightfully, from the program, throwing his audience off balance with one change-up and then another, until this rudimentary lesson is so swamped with giggles that tykes might forget they're learning.
--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Surprising
--Wall Street Journal

About The Author

Kenneth Kraegel is the author-illustrator of three picture books--Green Pants, The Song of Delphine, and King Arthur's Very Great Grandson, which was named a New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year--as well as the first chapter book Wild Honey from the Moon. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his family.