(2) PS Illustrated by Ariel Landy . Six familiar and quite large dinosaurs or prehistoric reptiles are paired with structurally or behaviorally similar -- but tinier -- species (readers can refer to helpful insets for illustrations showing to-scale size comparisons). The "meat-eating" Tyrannosauru has a smaller relative, Compsognathus, also a carnivore, but with a diet of insects. The "dome-headed" Pachycephalosaurus is matched with the aptly named owner of the longest dinosaur species name: Micropachycephalosaurus. Simple sentences, repeated across the pages, emphasize structure-function relationships. The cartoonlike illustrations of the dinosaurs engaged in hunting, swimming, eating, and flying use soft features and expressive eyes to keep the mood friendly -- even through the meteor strike that killed off the large dinosaurs and left the smaller, birdlike dinosaurs alive. An appended glossary gives the Greek origins of each species name.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2024

(1) PS The child with the purple circle head and stick limbs from Are You Big? (rev. 1/24) again ponders size in this companion concept book. Asking the titular question, an unseen narrator offers different examples of things that are smaller than the child: "This book is small...a hamster is small..." Attuned to his audience's point of view, Willems makes sure to note that small doesn't mean unimportant or insignificant: "A baby tooth is small. (But it's a BIG deal when it comes out.)" Uncluttered double-page spreads follow the same pattern: the verso features the previous page's cartoony item walking off stage, while the recto introduces a relatively smaller object. For example, a smiley cookie crumb (smaller than the baby tooth) heads off the left-hand page, now looking big compared to the grain of sand waving on the right. Zooming in on the microscopic level, the narrator introduces (and doesn't really define) less-familiar terms, including a cell, a water molecule (small, "but they are essential for life on this planet"), an electron, and a quark. Back to the original question, "Are YOU small?" If young listeners are feeling a bit untethered at the idea of the infinitesimal, the narrator, who we now see is a grownup, reassures the child: "You are to ME! (at least, for now)." An amusing list of numerical size comparisons is appended. This small book does indeed have "BIG ideas in it."

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2024

(1) PS Big, bigger, or downright astronomical -- it's all relative in Willems's latest concept book. On the first page, a round-headed, stick-limbed child smiles at the reader; text opposite asks, "Are you big?" Sitting in the middle of the square, solid-colored page, the kid looks plenty large. Then, a bespectacled hot air balloon arrives, dwarfing the perplexed child; the hot air balloon is big until an oversized cloud rolls in. Each previously big figure is bumped down the line and shrinks down to barely visible specks when truly colossal celestial entities enter the scene: the moon is big and the sun bigger, but wait until you meet the star Pollux or the M100 galaxy! The same gag repeats with each and every page-turn; appealing collage-style illustrations, oversized typography, and a just-right touch of escalating absurdity keep the joke feeling fresh throughout. Careful, clever utilization of relative size and composition allows Willems to capture the magnitude of his subject matter within a petite trim size, and back matter offers numerical comparisons for readers curious to know almost exactly how many "average kids" could fit inside a galaxy cluster. This is a playful introduction to the importance of perspective that brings big laughs.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) PS "There are big things and little things in the world." Here Henkes meditates on the world and our place in it. There are tiny things (kittens, ladybugs, flowers), and there are enormous things (the sea, the sun, the moon). "Most of the things are in-between. Like you. And me." At heart, this is a concept book about size, but also perspective. Short declarative sentences sit alongside spare ink and watercolor illustrations contained in panels on spreads with ample white space. Encased in the square trim size that has become Henkes's trademark, the complexity of existence becomes something even a three- or four-year-old can consider. One image shows huge ocean waves, but a few pages later we see that a child can hold some of the ocean water in their hands. A kitten sits in a small child's lap on one page; a few pages later, the same kitten basks in the light of the sun, one of the largest objects a child can see. Henkes's strength is in the poetry of the everyday and finding the profound in ordinary moments, and that strength is on full display in a book that is simultaneously soothing and mind-blowing. "Everything is in the world." Shelve this somewhere between concept and philosophy--and get it into kids' hands.

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2023

(2) PS On the verso of the first crisp spread in this deceptively simple concept book, a yellow circle sits below a red diamond capped with green and speckled with three small seed-like yellow diamonds; in short, "circle under berry." On the recto, a similar diamond-berry rests atop a vivid green square: "berry over square." Rearranged on the next page (with an orange oval added at the top), they become: "circle over berry / under orange / over square." Shuffled again later, that oval morphs into a guppy, and the berry becomes simply a diamond once again. Each ensuing spread introduces and rearranges shapes and colors to create a whimsical game of perception and classification. An octagon becomes an octopus, a trapezoid a dragonfly; true to the book's word, the "pieces make a puzzle full of colors / shapes / and words." Like Ehlert's explorative Color Zoo (1989), this book opens the door for children to engage with color, geometry, and prepositions, too, just for good measure. And how could they resist, with a rhythmic text that makes use of such lush language; why look for yellow, green, and pink when you could find goldenrod, emerald, and magenta? A triumph of design and a beacon of possibility.

Reviewer: Grace McKinney | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) PS Illustrated by Hanna Cha. This warm-hearted playground-set concept book focuses on circles and on counting from one to ten. "One circle...bounces! Two circles...roll!" Warm-toned, digitally colored ink illustrations depict a child bouncing a basketball and another cycling up on a two-wheeler. More friends appear, each shown with a circular or spherical item. Some of these items are toted (hula hoops, flying discs), some are built into the playscape (climbing rings, sprinkler heads), and all are intended for cooperative enjoyment. After we get to ten circles--in the form of festively decorated cookies--the count returns to the beginning. The children join hands as "one circle gathers. One circle opens. One circle grows. Circle Round." The message of inclusion, underscored by the illustrations' casual diversity in characters' skin tones, ethnicities, genders, and abilities, is clear for very young children--all of whom would likely be welcomed enthusiastically into this circle of friends.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(1) PS Storytelling Math series. In board book form, Lin accomplishes that most difficult of tasks: creating engaging, accessible, age-level-­appropriate, not-too-fussily illustrated stories that also teach something. In this case it's math. Each entry homes in on a specific mathematical concept, while together providing a tour through the seasons--and a slice-of-life portrait of three friends, Olivia, Mei, and Manny. In the springtime-set Knees, Mei observes measurement and comparison as she cultivates a sunflower. Circle! Sphere! proves the mind-stretching fact that the children's three different-shaped bubble wands produce the same-shaped bubble. Fit’s setting is a fall farmers' market and illustrates Olivia's spatial sense (and taste in ­produce). Wintry Marshmallow touches on division, both ­mathematical (how to split three marshmallows between two girls...) and behavioral (...without ruining the friendship). The illustrations are signature Lin--think The Ugly Vegetables (rev. 9/99) and the Ling and Ting books--with bold, saturated hues; thick black outlines; judicious use of frames; eye-pleasingly tidy details; and nothing extraneous. Brief "Exploring the Math" notes and "Try This!" suggestions, addressed to adults and written by an early math expert, are appended. All together, these diminutive math storybooks add up to a whole lot of fun.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) PS Translated by Brian Bergstrom. A concept book (of sorts) about shapes, sizes, patterns, and animal traits is mostly an entertaining excuse to show a series of animal tushies--beautifully illustrated in Saito's pencil collage, stenciled paintings, and dyed paper art. The double-page spreads feature plenty of white space and no background details--the bottoms are front and center. Beginning with a bunny's petite derriere ("My bottom is such a round bottom--and so cute, don't you think?"), viewers see a wide variety of creatures' backsides (Hippo's reply to Bunny: "I have a round bottom too. So round--and so-o-o big!"). We see stripy butts (tiger, zebra, okapi), "heart-shaped bottoms" (deer), colorful creatures whose "bottoms are the same color as [their] faces" (Japanese macaque, mandrill), and more; a list at the end identifies the animals. The text is light, conversational, and funny; and the painterly patoots are lovely in their texture and shading. The grays especially are multi-toned and incorporate blends of blues, purples, reds, and pinks. A positive-body-image reading of the story isn't too much of a stretch; by the end (ha!) we've learned a little about these remarkable creatures, as the text concludes: "Everyone's proud of their bottoms! Such wonderful bottoms--each and every one!"

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Edward Miller. After introducing the special quadrilateral known as a square, Adler and Miller's latest collaboration veers off on a surprising and completely worthwhile tangent to explore, in depth, how a quadrilateral's angles always add up to 360 degrees. The usual suspects--rectangles, parallelograms, rhombuses, trapezoids, kites--are then defined. Engaging activities and easy-to-understand illustrations make this a solid follow-up to Circles and Triangles. Glos.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 Master Math series. Illustrated by Jo Samways. Clear and colorful, these introductory math books feature hands-on and picture-based activities using the Singapore math approach, in which children progress from concrete to pictorial to abstract understanding of concepts. The content is engaging and pedagogically progressive; many important activities (especially those requiring manipulatives) are described in "Parent and Teacher Guidance" sections, making the series best suited for classroom or homeschool use. Review covers these Master Math titles: Get in Shape, Get to Know Numbers, Measure Up, and Super Calculations.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) PS Illustrated by Edward Underwood. "Big box / Little box / HUGE box / Tiny box." So begins this look at boxes and the gray cat who can't get enough of them. While the book's narrow focus will appeal most to cat lovers, Underwood's visually pleasing pencil, ink, and computer-assisted collage illustrations make each box look snazzy. The book concludes with a cute (literal) game of cat and mouse.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS Pixar Animation Studio Artist Showcase series. The Pixar animator's simple story involves Circle and Box, who want to "do something together." Circle jumps, but Box can only sit; Circle tries to sit but rolls away. After nearly ending the story prematurely ("'The end?' 'This can't be the end'"), they combine their singular talents. Hartline gives an impressive amount of expression to his smiley-faced, stick-limbed sphere and cube.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) PS Illustrated by Serge Bloch. The strength of a man's sneeze sends Circle rolling and Oval rocking (bypassing Rectangle, fortunately), and so on until Circle pops on Triangle's point, after which the chain reaction continues. Equally graceful as the rhymes are the simple collage and ink illustrations showing the bespectacled, stick-limbed shapes collaborating on this book-length geometry problem.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. Geometric shapes are compared, in simple rhyming stanzas, to shapes found in traditional Islamic architecture, art, and rituals. Minarets are cone-shaped, the Ka'aba is a cube, and so on. Mixed-media illustrations are ornate and richly colored; depicting a different country on each spread, the pictures showcase the ethnic diversity within Islam yet focus on traditional (and sometimes archaic) attire. An author's note is appended. Glos.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam

(3) PS Medina embellishes color photos of sweet treats to create forest-animal likenesses meant to teach children about shapes: Macaron Owl represents a circle, Lemon Tart Goldfinches represent triangles, etc. Between this sumptuous book and Medina's two previous food-centric offerings, ABC Pasta and 1 Big Salad, kids can enjoy a balanced diet of basic concepts. A recipe for chocolate-covered strawberries is appended.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS In each of sixteen minimalist spreads, a labeled object (e.g., "an orange") is introduced on the left-hand page; on the right, it's shown in an altered state (e.g., the orange is now "a planet," its stalk hovering like a star). This small-scale concept book (first published in France) succeeds with its grand ambition to show readers that simple tweaks can make a big difference.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bob Shea. Square is a bookworm; Circle likes to "bounce into the action." Nevertheless, they've been best friends "since they were a dot and a speck." When flashy newcomer Triangle arrives, a "wedge" is driven between them, as described in Colleen's clever, math-centric text. Shea's geometric illustrations give the spindly-legged characters lots of personality.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) PS Back matter situates this simply presented, graphically crisp, and straightforward concept book in the Art Deco District of Miami Beach. Skillful close-up photographs of architectural elements introduce numbers from one to ten, shapes (including more complex ones such as octagons and zigzags), and colors, culminating in an open-ended identification game. Reminiscent of Tana Hoban's work, the book feels both vintage and timeless.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(4) K-3 Crayola Concepts series. These simple concept books serve as introductions to their topics as well as to nonfiction conventions. Crayon-bright pages pop with colorful graphics and photos that illustrate concepts in the texts; some volumes are more focused than others. Despite its obvious marketing for the Crayola brand, overall the series is an engaging foray into basic early-elementary subjects. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Crayola Concepts titles: The Crayola Counting Book, The Crayola Patterns Book, The Crayola Shapes Book, The Crayola Comparing Sizes Book, The Crayola Opposites Book, and The Crayola Sorting Book

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) PS Basic Concepts series. Illustrated by Elliot Kreloff. This cheerful series focuses mainly on math (patterns, shapes, numbers) and color concepts. Not-So-Right explores individual differences (with some success). The bright, childlike drawings feature a diverse cast; the simple texts will appeal to preschoolers, teachers, and parents. Review covers these titles: Big Box of Shapes, Colors All Around, Count On It, Duck, Duck, Goose, and The Not-So-Right Day.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee