Customer Reviews

The Shape Of Me And Other Stuff (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Bright & Early Books for Beginning Beginners)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!

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.

In "The Shape of Me and Other Stuff," Dr. Seuss experiments with an artistic approach that is very different from that of his best-known work. This book teaches about shapes, and the illustrations consist entirely of silhouettes of various items: people, elephants, boats, keys, etc.

The shadow-like illustrations are accompanied by rhymes in the familiar Seussian style: "Peanuts and pineapples / noses and grapes. / Everything comes in different shapes." While the book is educational and entertaining, I felt that the silhouettes-only art lacked some of the wacky charm of the full Seussian illustration technique. Nevertheless, I recommend "The Shape of Me and Other Stuff" as a fun addition to the family or classroom library.

This was one of the first books I purchased for my son. As a small infant (1-3 months old) he would get bored with other books, but the shapes and bright colors in this book kept him interested. It was the only book he'd pay attention to until he was 4 or 5 months old.

Even now, at the age of 11 months, it's his favorite. It is short and the shapes captivate very young babies and toddlers alike. When he's grumpy, this is my go to book to make him happy. He likes the fact that there are not too many words on the pages, and he'll turn the pages himself. With wordier books, he'll get bored and turn the page long before I'm finished reading.

I'm not sure this would be a great book to purchase for an older toddler, but I would make sure to add this to any infant's book collection.

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.

This book seems to work at two levels: For the youngest (<1) children, the contrasting silhouettes provide an interesting thing to focus on while you read the text. (The theory being that infants won't have fully developed their eyesight, but can be "stimulated" by high contrasting patterns.) Slightly older (1-2 1/2) have fun identifying the shapes towards the end of the book.

Whereas the "Mr Brown can Moo" book emphasizes aural development, this focuses on visual. My toddler seems to enjoy it, although "One Fish" still ranks higher.

Children love Dr.Seuss! The fun rhyming rhythm even held the attention of my son when he was 6 months old! He's 10 months now and they are his favorite! It's also great that they come in a board book format so I don't have to worry about him tearing the pages!

Dr. Seuss, of course, was extremely prolific. What this means for me is that some of his books I *adore*, but some I'm ambivalent about. This book is definitely in the latter category.

It's very easy for beginning readers to read, though.

I used this for my preschool class during 'Read Across America'. It followed a 'shadows' unit, so the children related to it as a Dr. Suess book as well as a book illustrating shadows. Nice easy text and rhyme.

I have loved Dr. Seuss since I was a kid and this book is included. My mistake was showing it to my 17 month old who doesn't really show much interest in it but it's an investment. I know some day it will captivate her as much as it did me.