Spotty, Stripy, Swirly

February 1, 2012

PreS-Gr 2-As she did in Ruby, Violet and Lime: Looking for Color and Spiky, Slimy, Smooth: What Is Texture? (both Millbrook, 2011), Brocket has taken a concept and given it the full treatment. Using crisp, bright photographs reminiscent of the work of Tana Hoban and clearly written text in playful fonts, she examines patterns from almost every conceivable angle. There are patterns determined sometimes by shape, sometimes by color, sometimes by object. They run the gamut from simple to quite complex. There are man-made patterns such as brickwork or quilts, and patterns that occur in nature, such as geranium leaves. The author explains their various purposes and encourages children to "look up and down and all around" to try and find them. This book is a visual treat that could be used by teachers looking for ways to introduce the topic, and it will attract browsers as well. A first purchase.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2012
Patterning and ways of sorting are the focus of the third in Brocket's four-part series, and, as with her color and texture entries, her brightly colored close-up photos truly make the book. Beginning with a definition, Brocket treats readers to a visual feast of patterns. Her up-close photos show a wide array of objects with their own distinctive patterns, from fabrics and architectural elements to food and plants. Simple arrangements of objects share a page with complex ones, and the familiar are mixed in with the new: a quilt, a candy-decorated cake, a garden full of lettuce, a dahlia, the shadow of a fence, a building's windows, polka-dot socks. But Brocket does not stop there--she delves into the reasons for patterns. They help us identify plants, stay organized, decorate and plan, but, most of all, they are pleasing to the eye. While this entry lacks the great adjectives that made the first two in the series such standouts, the text does give children some words to help describe what they see--swirls, stripes, dots, zigzag. Brocket peppers the text with challenges that require children to identify the patterns, to look for more around them and to create their own, even pointing out how the same collection of rocks can be sorted in different ways to create different patterns. Another solid entry sure to attract the attention of art and math teachers alike. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 15, 2012
Preschool-G The third book in the Jane Brocket's Clever Concepts series presents patterns. While the large-print text explains what patterns are, how they vary, and why they are useful to people, the large, colorful illustrations steal the show. Heightening viewers' awareness of the patterns around them, the photos focus attention on subjects that vary from the print on new sneakers to the geometric arrangement of old ceramic tiles, from the creative plantings of dark and light lettuces to the glass-and-steel triangles that make up a distinctive skyscraper. Like Spiky, Slimy, Smooth: What Is Texture? (2011) and Ruby, Violet, Lime: Looking for Color (2012), this volume offers plenty of textures and colors to enjoy as well. Parents and teachers looking for a concept book on patterns will find this a rich collection of photos that can spark any number of discussions around the subject.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)