The Shape of Me and Other Stuff: Dr. Seuss's Surprising Word Book (Board book)

~ Dr. Seuss (Author) "The shape of you..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Subtitled "Dr. Seuss's Surprising Word Book," The Shape of Me and Other Stuff certainly lives up to its billing. In this delightful book, first published in 1973, kids are encouraged to ponder shapes they may never have considered before: "Just think about the shape of beans and flowers and mice and big machines!" Dr. Seuss's illustrations are in silhouette (for the purpose of accenting the outlines of figures), but are nonetheless up to par with his usual wacky, amusing style. Soaring well beyond the mundane arena of circles, triangles, and squares, here we are challenged to consider "the shape of camels … the shape of bees and the wonderful shapes of back door keys!" Kids will love the silly rhymes and funny pictures, and parents will appreciate this original take on the largely untapped world of shapes. (Baby to preschool)

Review

"This wacky, rhyming exploration of the concept of shapes will be welcomed by beginning readers."--Instructor.  


From the Hardcover edition. -- Review

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Product Details

• Reading level: Baby-Preschool
  
• Board book: 24 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (July 8, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679886311
• ISBN-13: 978-0679886310
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 4.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,534 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practice in Noticing Small Differences in Outline Shapes, February 12, 2001

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

One of the most difficult problems that many beginning readers have is to notice those pesky little differences between letters (like b and d, and q and p). Many children don't focus that much and get a general impression of a shape when looking at a letter or a group of letters. This interesting beginning reader helps you child to "see" the benefits of studying detail more closely.

The book is primarily a series of solid shapes (mostly black on white) set off with bright colors used in some shapes, as backgrounds for others, and as rectangles around words. Each one is a different item. Some of the many items silhouetted include a bug, balloon, bed, bike, beans, flowers, mice, big mahines, elephants, ships, teapots, water dripping, bird cages, peanuts, pineapple, noses, grapes, glasses, scissors, the various shapes that gum can be pulled into, smoke, marshmallows, fires, mountains, roosters, horses, tires, camels, bees, back door keys, spider webs, clothes, garden hose, mug, imaginary beings (like a BLOGG), trombone, fish, whale and a frog. This is not all, but it is more than half.

As you can imagine, a young child will be able to identify very few while an older child will get almost all of them. Not all of the profiles have words associated with them in the text.

As a result, this book should be read in different ways at different stages of development. For example, two year olds will identify more objects if they get a hint from you. Also, if you child likes sounds, you could make a sound like the object for your clue.

For an older child, you can also work together to spell the names of the shapes that are not in the text. For someone about to graduate from the book, you could try creating some rhymes with the shapes that are not mentioned.

The book itself is simple to read, and has a typical Dr. Seuss rhyming scheme.

The key lessons are summarized as:

"Everything comes in different shapes."

"No shapes are ever quite alike."

There is also nice encouragement for your child to feel special, for having a unique shape. That's a nice tie-in to the concept of encouraging your child to notice the small differences that help in reading. This point is brought home in the end when the child narrator says, "I say, 'HOORAY for the shapes we're in!'"

This book will be of most value for a child who is starting to have some success in identifying letters, so although this is a beginning reader . . . it's not the first reader you should use.

After you have enjoyed this book, you might also do some art projects in which your child picks out items that she or he wants you to cut out. You could paste them onto a card along with the item's name, and create your own flash cards for words you child wants to learn!

Notice the small things, so you can see the big picture!

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Shape of Me and Other Stuff, November 26, 1999

By	Missy Rinaldi (San Diego) - See all my reviews

This book has been a favorite of my 22 month old daughter since she was 3 months! It is a lively, fun book that is classic Seuss. I would definetly recommend it as a first book.

28 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not for babies under 2, October 5, 1999

By	Tonya Cabral (Louisville, KY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I don't recommend this book as a beginning shapes book. Most of the illustrations are basic black. I love Dr. Seuss, but this book is very boring. My 7-1/2 month old son doesn't care for this book as much as he enjoys "Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?" and other Dr. Seuss books.