This Is a Book of Shapes

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.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 JournalKenneth 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.