• Age: 4 to 8
• Grade: p to 3
• Reading age: 4 to 8

A thoughtful and unique meditation on the shapes found in everyday life, sure to expand young children's thinking.

In lyrical language, a mother tells her small daughter about the shapes that make up their lives. At first, the shapes are literal. The shape of their door is a rectangle, their table, a square. Water can be shaped like a cube or a cloud. And then she moves on to the figurative. The shape of learning is a question. The shape of warmth is a space waiting to be filled. Some shapes change, like a child growing up, while some remain the same, like the triangle of the mountain behind their house. The shape of her heart, she concludes, “will always be you.”

Bestselling and award-winning author Mượn Thị Văn has written an innovative, poetic and philosophical exploration of shapes and the many forms they can take, touching on objects, families and love. The meditative and heartwarming text is beautifully complemented by Miki Sato's layered, multitextured and three-dimensional-looking illustrations created from different papers and fabrics. A soothing read-aloud, this picture book has the feel of a classic and promotes observation, curiosity, interpretation and discussion. It's an excellent choice for exploring critical thinking, shapes and measurements with young children.

Mượn Thị Văn loves to read books of all shapes and sizes. She first began reading yellow-spined hardbacks about a certain girl detective before graduating to longer novels and then picture books (it's true, she doesn't remember reading picture books as a young child). So few books reflected her formative experiences, though, that she desired to bring new and different stories into the world. Mýợn has written many picture books for children, including Wishes, If You Were Night and One Is a Lot, and her books have received many distinctions and awards. She lives in Northern California with her family.

Muon Thi Van's profile page

Miki Sato is a Japanese-Canadian illustrator who uses a variety of different textures and materials to create three-dimensional images. Originally from Ottawa, she moved to Toronto to complete her degree in illustration from the Ontario College of Art and Design. Her picture books include Snow Days, which was a finalist for the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award, Sunny Days, which was a 2021 CBC Books Best Book, Windy Days, which won a Northern Lights Book Award, and Rainy Days.

Miki Sato's profile page

• Short-listed, Northern California Book Award; Children's Books, Poetry Flash
• Joint winner, Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2023, Kirkus Reviews
• Joint winner, First and Best, Toronto Public Library

Destined to become a classic.

Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Simple grammar yields philosophical meanings Van's incantatory lines ... Sato's collages layer vibrant colors, textiles, and embroidery, successfully visualizing that which feels elusive.—Publishers Weekly, starred review

... simple and deep ...—ABQLA (Praise for One is a Lot (Except When It's Not))

This thoughtful book incorporates early math concepts into a tale of the love and beauty that exist between a child and their caregiveres.—School Library Journal

Simple grammar yields philosophical meanings Van's incantatory lines ... Sato's collages layer vibrant colors, textiles, and embroidery, successfully visualizing that which feels elusive.

Publishers Weekly, starred review

This thoughtful book incorporates early math concepts into a tale of the love and beauty that exist between a child and their caregiveres.

School Library Journal

A special addition to primary library collections.

CM Magazine