ALA Booklist (Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2000)

Renowned photographer Hoban specializes in making concepts like size, color, and symbols come alive for young children. This book highlights shapes that may be difficult to grasp in the abstract, but are found everywhere. The book jacket, featuring a boy and girl playing in front of a garage, is a perfect setup for the subject: the scene contains many of the shapes introduced in the book, illustrating how they infiltrate daily life. Hoban identifies each shape before setting out on a wordless photo exploration. The pictures are a delight, showing shapes in a child's daily world (alphabet blocks, ice cream cones) as well as ones a child might encounter on a trip to the city or country (traffic cones, bales of hay). There's even a gorgeous photo of a castle that brings all the shapes together.

Horn Book (Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2011)

Delaney once again combines chills with character development as Tom and others face difficult questions. Should common enemies always create allies? Can Tom kill his friend Alice's murderous mother? Meanwhile, the soul-sucking demon buggane poses a constant threat. Arrasmith's black-and-white illustrations reinforce the idea that the supernatural creatures, even Tom's temporary cohorts, are worth a shudder.

Kirkus Reviews

<p>Pictures tell the story in this wordless book. Hoban creates photographs that show the geometric shapes of the world around us. Everything looks spontaneous, yet her meticulously composed images make the four mathematical shapes that are her subject clear and interesting. Boldly framed pictures sometimes demonstrate just one shape; others show a combination. In brilliant color, she uses objects such as blocks, wrapped birthday gifts, bubbles, and baseballs, which have enormous child-appeal. Children are often present in the scenes, but do not dominate them. A child's hands show a Parcheesi board and dice, two children examine a globe, and a hand builds a sugar cube castle. City streets and interiors contrast with rural scenes. An amusing shot of shaped triangular trees in a formal garden leads up to the final shot of a castle that demonstrates each of the four shapes. Identical double borders give a unified look to each page and focus the eye on the subjects. Another welcome addition, by one of the best in the field, to books that make mathematical concepts accessible. (Picture book. 3-5)</p>

School Library Journal

K-Gr 5-The photos stand alone in this textless mathematics book. Four small, labeled diagrams on the back of the title page define the shapes. After that, readers are led on a treasure hunt for those shapes through 21 crisp, colorful pictures. A display of teddy bears in clown hats, a basket of baseballs, a breathtaking castle, and sculptured hedges typify the broad-ranging subject matter. Math teachers approaching solid geometry will find this to be a useful resource. Children will simply enjoy identifying the plethora of shapes to be found out in the world if one only takes the time to look.-Ellen Heath, Orchard School, Ridgewood, NJ Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.