Counting down from 10, readers view colorful, neatly stacked shapes with a hint of the rearrangement—into familiar forms—that will follow after the page turn.
The text opposite the first group of shapes—rows of differently sized rectangles, some in yellow, some in blue—says, “Mix the shapes up, move them around, and they RESHAPE! These shapes reshape into BUZZY things! What could they be?” The following double-page spread shows a large, bold, black numeral 10 and says, “DRAGONFLIES, flittering and fluttering.” The dragonflies have been created from the exact array of shapes on the previous page, with tiny black dots added for eyes—a nice touch. Little ones will enjoy the repetition in the text of “What could they be?” after each hint. They are likely to guess that the “CLUCKY” things are chickens, and will probably not guess that the purple, “STOMPY” things are “2 RHINOCEROSES, stamping and stampeding.” The text offers plenty of interesting, accessible, descriptive words, and the clever artwork makes excellent use of color and shapes. Many of the answers also feature alliteration, as in “sniffly and snuffling” hedgehogs and “hungry and hunting” lions. The ending adds a further, winning dimension by quickly diminishing any fears of the “fearsome and fire-breathing” dragon with a comeuppance sure to delight little ones.
An imaginative counting book that also encourages shape recognition and vocabulary building.
(Picture book. 2-5)