Friendshape

Amy Krouse Rosenthal and the young narrators who accompany her give listeners young and old a memorable shape-inspired look at the essence of friendship. The story follows a pattern. Rosenthal cheerily and clearly speaks a line of text; for example: "Friends . . . welcome others to join in." Then, the various shapes--rectangle, square, triangle, and circle--as portrayed by the youthful narrators--answer: "So glad you could stop by!" Of course, there are lots of giggles. A musical interlude follows each vignette so that listeners can enjoy the illustrations. The marriage of story and audio presentation is outstanding. A.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

June 1, 2015
Rosenthal’s cheerful observations about friendship provide punny setups for longtime teammate Lichtenheld’s (Duck! Rabbit!) visual jokes, all composed with four happily smiling shapes: a blue circle, a yellow square, a red rectangle, and a green triangle. The book is well-suited for an adult and child to work through together as they read each sentence, one per spread, and see where Lichtenheld’s shape play leads. For “Friends make you feel at home,” the triangle sits on top of the square to create a house, while the red rectangle lies in front of it. “We rolled out the red carpet for you!” the square tells the blue circle. Sometimes there’s a rebus to decode, as when the yellow square completes the phrase “Friends play fair and .” “Friends sometimes think the exact same thing at the exact same time” shows each shape thinking about an identical photograph of a banana. It’s upbeat entertainment, and a natural lead-in both to conversations about friendship and to creative activities using cut-out shapes of one’s own. Ages 3–5. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency.