Roald Dahl: Shapes by Roald Dahl

Illus. by Quentin Blake. Penguin, 2020. ISBN: 9780241439999.
(Age: 0-4) Highly recommended. What a fabulous way to help young children learn about different shapes. Quentin Blake's amusing illustrations will bring smiles to the faces of the children who have the joy of hearing this book read aloud to them. They will be engrossed in finding shapes right from the first page, where they encounter a circle and the words,
Good morning,
Enormous Crocodile!
The sun is in the sky!
With a combination of cut-outs, lift-the-flaps and touch-and-feel this is a superior board book for little hands and curious minds to explore. The shapes of a circle, diamond and triangle are shown first, each with its double page spread, giving children the opportunity to trace over the shape and then find the shape in the drawings. Then follows a double page spread that has many shapes, all which can be found by a touch and feel, and this is followed by a wonderful lift the flap square. Finally, a goodnight is given to the enormous crocodile, who is pictured against a black sky full of twinkling stars.
As always, the quirky, bright illustrations of Quentin Blake set against gorgeous colours, are superb, and children will want to return to this fun book again and again. What a memorable and fun way to learn shapes. This board book is a keeper!
Pat Pledger