Here we go:
This book is written using primary shapes (rectangle, triangle, circle, square, etc…) in primary colors as the main characters. No cultural, racial, religious, socioeconomic, or physical differences are present, making this neutral cast of characters easy for young children to identify with on whatever level they choose to do so. In this story, the protagonist is a blue rectangle searching for a friend. His adventures start anew with each day of the week (“On Monday, the little rectangle… On Tuesday,... etc). As he encounters various other shapes and asks them what they “do”, the reader is led into a visual search for all occasions of the given shape in the illustration, as excerpted here:
The beautiful circle said, “Circles are everywhere. You can see us when you look at a penny, a plate, or a pancake. We can be small, like a button, or large, like a Ferris wheel. You can even see circles when a raindrop lands in the water. What do rectangles do?”
The little rectangle is continually referred to as a “stick,” which he begins to believe about himself until he comes upon a red octagon who points out all of the things a rectangle can “do”.
The little rectangle was surprised. “I am?” he asked. “What’s so special about me?”
“Well,” she said, “rectangles are everywhere you look. Where should I start? I see rectangles when I look at a truck, a table leg, or a toolbox. You can be small, like a ruler, or large, like a building.”
Finally, through persistence, the protagonist finds a friend and learns of his own value and place in his environment. This story contains literary conventions of assonance, resonance, consonance, repetition, pattern, predictability, and familiar rhythm. It reflects the forward linear movement of time by referring to each day of the week, and teaches the value of persistence in the face of adversity. In fact, “giving up” is mentioned and considered on Thursday in the story, as this is a very real “human” response to challenge.
The target audience for this book is young readers, emerging, challenged, reluctant, or struggling readers, and their parents and teachers. Many lessons can be derived from this work, and it can be used in classrooms across the country to teach or support the teaching of shapes, colors, days of the week, feelings, persistence, friendship, support, acceptance and teamwork. Future books with the same characters are planned that will follow this pattern and theme, each focusing on different topics such as jealousy, anger, sadness, fear, etc. There are many applications for these books, in both the regular education curriculum as well as with children of special needs, but it is primarily written to appeal to the general populace, as an introductory reader or as a bedtime story read by parents, or as a tool to be used as a topic starter for discussions with children struggling with problems similar to those of the characters in the story.
