City Shapes, (Hardcover)

Publishers Weekly,Newcomer Murray's upbeat verses about finding shapes in the city get an extra shot of energy from Caldecott Honoree Collier's (Trombone Shorty) artwork. On the jacket, he paints a girl with brown skin and hair bound up in a ribbon, who looks at readers through a kaleidoscope. "The city is bursting with shapes of each kind./ And if you look closely, who knows what you'll find!" writes Murray as the book begins. Collier's watercolor-and-collage spreads are filled with incident: pedestrians stride by, flags wave, bubbles float, and taxis speed through intersections, with squares, rectangles, and other shapes sometimes highlighted in filmy white. (A minor quibble: the shapes aren't always clearly matched to text, as when a scarf in the section about rectangles is folded like a triangle, or a rectangular subway-car window is pictured with verse about squares.) Collier doesn't just create the girl who does the shape finding; he gives readers a chance to get to know her. As she peers out a window with her kaleidoscope, she almost seems close enough to touch. Ages 3-6. Author's agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House. Illustrator's agent: Marcia Wernick, Wernick & Pratt Agency. (June) ??? Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.