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Square

Square works all day moving rocks from inside his cave to outside. When Circle comes along, she thinks one of the square-shaped rocks he’s moving is a work of genius. “It looks just like you!” She commissions Square to do one of her, and leaves before Square can explain he doesn’t know how to sculpt stone. “Circle is perfect. So I must make this perfect.” He chips away into the night, through the rain, until he is surrounded by a pile of rubble—the opposite of perfection in Square’s mind. When Circle returns, Square is sure he’s a failure, but rain has collected in the middle of the pile, and in the small pool Circle sees … her reflection. “You are a genius,” said Circle. “But was he really?” The bold, clean, black-and-white illustrations and uncluttered text work together to create a deceptively sophisticated board book. The tongue-in-cheek humor leaves it up to readers and listeners to decide for themselves if what Square has accomplished is art. ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Illustrated by Jon Klassen

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 4-8
Age Range: PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7) Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format: Picture book
Subjects: Art and Artists Humor Shapes (Concept)

Publisher: Candlewick
Publish Year: 2018
Pages: 40
ISBN: 9780763696078

CCBC Location: Picture Book, Barnett

Square