Squares

Publisher
Michael Negebauer
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Squares (Michael Negebauer, board book, £7.99)
Tokyo-based designer and illustrator Yusuke Yonezu loves to play with strong shapes and bold colours; and here, he is able to have enormous fun with a succession of simple squares that transform into all kinds of surprising (yet familiar) objects as little fingers turn sturdy, die-cut pages. Maths pedants may take issue with the author’s use of the word ‚rectangle‘ when what he actually means is ‚oblong‘; but given the overall quality of this of this clever, glossy book, and the level of interactive education and entertainment it offers, it would be rather churlish to start an argument on the subject. Besides, the impressive variety of ideas that Yonezu comes up with using a single motif might make a good starting point for some creative activities in your setting – whether cutting out examples of triangles or circles from magazines and pasting them onto coloured paper; drawing around a stencil placed in different positions on a single sheet then colouring the overlapping areas with crayons or paints; or, for more capable youngsters, adding lines and other details to turn a shape of their choice into an animal, vehicle or household object.