Circle, Square, Moose

"Hilarious fun. (Picture book. 4-6)"

PreS-Gr 2--Bingham's irrepressible protagonist from Z Is For Moose (Greenwillow, 2012) and his long-suffering friend Zebra return in this hilarious book about shapes. The offstage narrator begins quite serenely, introducing common shapes represented by everyday objects like a button and a sandwich. When Moose swipes the square but apparently delicious sandwich, the narrator objects but forges ahead to triangles (a wedge of cheese or a piece of pie). Dressed in his striped jersey, Moose cheerfully points out that a cat's ears are also triangular. Unfortunately, this is not a book about animals, and Moose and the feline are asked to leave. Undeterred, Moose continues to insert himself into the following pages showcasing rectangles and diamonds. Suddenly, Zebra, sporting his referee's shirt, appears to handle the situation. Despite Zebra's efforts, Moose and his feline companion continue to barge through the parade of shapes. They dash by a wall of square bathroom tiles and knock over a checkerboard. Eventually, Moose tangles Zebra in a long, curvy ribbon, but they manage to make their escape through a circular hole in the ground. Fed up, the narrator tells them, "You can finish this book YOURSELVES." The friends come up with a gratifying conclusion using Zebra's favorite shape, the star. Zelinsky sets Moose's antics against colorful, geometric backgrounds. He cleverly portrays the characters cavorting in and out of the energetic mixed-media illustrations. For a laugh-filled story hour, pair this title with Doreen Cronin's equally zany Click Clack Moo (S. & S., 2000).--Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston, MA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Having thoroughly disrupted an alphabet book in Z Is for Moose, Bingham and Zelinsky's enthusiastically in-the-way quadruped has his way with a primer on shapes. Bingham gives the unseen narrator a sickly sweet tone, complete with predictable rhymes, though Moose's interruptions (such as eating the sandwich used to demonstrate as a square) quickly raise hackles. "You are ruining the book. This is a book about shap-" begins the narrator, before another new arrival, the referee Zebra from the previous book, pops in, resulting in a metafictional chase that has the animals "crinkling" pages, getting tangled in acres of ribbon, and falling down a hole into a sort of picture-book void. It's wild fun, and adults could probably even use the book to explore shapes with children, if they can get them to stop laughing long enough. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

"The stars of one of our Best Books of 2012, Z Is for Moose, are back for a fabulous encore about shapes. . . . Bingham and Zelinsky pace this rollicking adventure with clockwork precision, tucking in surprises but never losing sight of their focus: the friendship between Moose and Zebra."—Shelf Awareness