This book is an adorable way to introduce shapes! The liberal use of puns keeps the book interesting for those reading it and those being read to! I loved the wordplay and the illustrations. The shapes are adorable and the things they are arguing about seem utterly appropriate for them. I love that it wasn't a simple and quick conclusion, and the shapes will need to continue to work on their relationship with the help of the circles. A cute read!

Because we are the shapes. You'll never be alone again. Wooh come on. Wooh come on.

Er, sorry, where was I? Funnily enough, this is not a book about friends – it's a quirky little read for quirky little kids, about how squares and triangles don't get on, until a circle turns up and tries to rectify things. It's probably going to be read by people who know their shapes already, mind – meaning this is just a picture book about differences and collaboration and hope and suchlike. It can look a little busy, with the narration and the speech bubbling over each other and slightly confusing the page, but it's a perfectly reasonable selection for a few minutes' jovial, if not, flippant, entertainment. A slightly generous four stars.

This was such a cute and funny book, it was a shame that the squares were rectangular, and that they were described as 'even'.
The book was humorous and sweet, but a simple detail, like the actual shapes, would have made a big difference.

This is a cute little funny book about shapes and how they don't get along. I really enjoyed it and will definitely be reading more of Jenner in the future!

I read this with my younger two and they LOVED it!

This book teaches two shapes and the characteristics of each. It is written in a fun way for younger kids to remember. But what it also teaches is teamwork. Shapes can make all sorts of things when they work together (much like real life teamwork).

I liked the simple pictures for this book.

Circle was my son's favorite.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

We Are the Shapes is a cute picture book to teach early childhood learners about shapes. It shows the basic attributes of shapes (number of sides, equal sides) of squares, triangles, and circles. I liked this basic introduction to shapes. Then the book changes direction and addresses social emotional learning with a little conflict resolution. The book then has squares and triangles bicker over who is the better shape when circle intervenes because circles don't have sides. I liked the concept of this, but it felt a bit out of place. I would have preferred if it would have given more information about shapes.

We are the Shapes by Kevin Jenner is a beautifully illustrated book. It was a simple story that used shapes as a visual expression of differences and similarities. It touched lightly on teamwork but I feel this
could have been done much better, with a resolution that demonstrated the power of realised teamwork, reciprocity and conflict resolution. It could have really highlighted recognising value in others, especially their differences, and knowing what you each bring.

The author tried to highlight that differences are good but I don’t think they went nearly far enough to emphasis uniqueness and value and so I felt I really need to pad it out for my daughter to bring a more rounded positive message. I felt it could have also gone further in terms of equality as some shapes come off better than others!

I appreciate others may find this a great starting point to jump off of. I felt just a few changes could have really elevated this message, without detracting from the simplicity of the text.

Illustration and general ideas pushed this up to 3.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute and funny story about shapes for younger children. It explains the shapes and their properties and has cute little one liners. I enjoyed this adorable story and it was easy to follow along. I liked the interactions red between the shapes and seeing the circle be the one to being everyone together. Good illustration and a cute concept!

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto publishing for access to this ARC.

This is such a cute book! I love how it teaches math concepts to early readers in such a fun way! I will definitely purchase this book to read aloud to my kindergartners.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books for this fabulous look at a book I can definitely use in my classroom.

This book cleverly gives personality attributes and educates about the physical attributes of a square, triangle, and circle.

My one hesitation to the 5⭐️ Review is that sometimes circle looks like a sphere…and this is a difficult distinction for our youngest learners. It can be a good conversation for a teacher-led read of the book, though ❤️

This was a cute story about shapes! It could easily be adapted into a classroom, home or other educational setting. The writing was pretty good, the story incorporated the shapes fairly well! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free preview in exchange for an honest review.

Cute, quick, minimalist kids book with a simple narrative about working together, accepting one another’s differences. Would be a great addition for lessons on teamwork, building a classroom community, or learning shapes (preschool - early elementary age).

Thank you Net Galley and Quarto Publishing for this ARC.

I was drawn to this book for my kids because I loved the idea of anthropomorphism of shapes to give then another way to relate to this early math concept. Unfortunately, this book felt half-baked to me as a parent.

If the point is to teach about shapes, then the style of the book doesn’t really work for the toddlers who would benefit from it. There is too much random dialogue from different characters and the message gets muddled. If the point is to entertain preschoolers, it is done at the expense of characters being judgmental and mean to each other. That isn’t the communication I want my young kids exposed to in books.

This story had potential but it fell short in execution.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

A clever story that combines math concepts and Social/Emotional Learning! The perfect choice for an early elementary read aloud. Circle does his best to help get the squares and triangles to cooperate, despite their differences since circles don’t have (or take) sides. A great message for all!

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very cute and accessible book with a great message behind it!
Thank you for the opportunity to review!