What is Round? (Harper Growing Tree)
PreSchool-The garbanzo beans on the first spread of this concept book are a good indication of the quality of this title-a little lopsided at best. The book explores things that are round through a poem and full-color photographs. The objects are named in the text and shown against vividly painted backgrounds, giving children the chance to focus on each one. The final spread is a guessing game in the "I Spy" (Scholastic) fashion, where youngsters can find round objects in a selection of other items. Unfortunately, some of the featured objects are not really or not always round-a bell, garbanzo beans, a belly button, the moon. Dotlich's text is uneven as well. Sentences and rhymes do not flow smoothly from page to page, and the poem can be unwieldy, as items are strung together without a natural ending point. Ferrari's photographs, however, are bright and uncluttered, perfect for attracting the attention of preschoolers. While this would be a good additional purchase for concept-book collections, Tana Hoban's Round and Round and Round (Greenwillow, 1983; o.p.) is a better introduction to the circles of our world.Susan Marie Pitard, Weezie Library for Children, Nantucket Atheneum, MACopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.