Tangled: A Story About Shapes Book Review

 

Available on Amazon

Author: Anne Miranda

Illustrator: Eric Comstock

Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books

Released: June 25, 2019

Format: Kindle, Hard Cover

ISBN: 978-1481497213

Reviewer: Ellwyn Autumn

Rating: 5 Lemon Drops

A circle of events leaves a group of unsuspecting shapes twisted up inside a jungle gym and searching for help.

Review:

Book Summary:

A happy little circle gets caught up in a jungle gym. When her friend triangle tries to set her free, he suffers the same fate, as do an ellipse and a gang of big-hearted pentagons.

A straight and narrow line devises a clever solution that involves an abundance of ingenuity and a little teamwork. She, a prism, and a sphere, work together and in no time at all the jungle gym is heaved up and the shapes are free!

Opinion:

What a marvelous celebration of math, science, and out-of-the-box thinking! Anne Miranda has penned another story young readers will enjoy again and again.

The perky rhyming pattern is catchy and fun; it begs to be read aloud. The various fonts throughout the book draw the eye and add an attention-grabbing element youngsters will appreciate.

A well-rounded cast of characters introduces a broad range of shapes not ordinarily seen in a children’s picture book. There’s also a shape gallery at the end, for readers to get to know the shapes even further.

Comstock’s retro-inspired illustrations are comical and capture the characters’ emotions. Their simplistic style is effective in showing children shapes are fun and not that complicated.

I give it 5 Lemon Drops!

Classroom Connection:

Targeted Vocabulary: geometric, circle, triangle, square, rectangle, ellipse, cone, star, cube, point, pentagon, trapezoid, parallelogram, line, prism, sphere, polygon, tetrahedron

Tangled: A Book about Shapes has numerous applications in the classroom: mathematics (geometry), science (levers), art, and literacy.

Mathematics application- For beginners, the book can present simple shapes; for advanced students, a focus on the more complex shapes can be done.

Science application- A lesson on levers is ideal. Materials for the levers can be added to the science and block centers.

Art application- After a read-aloud of the book, students can design various pictures formed from different shapes or make shape collages.

Literacy- Focus on the rhyming words in the story.

Resources:

Let’s Learn Shapes Pinterest Board

About The Author:

When Anne was a little girl, she loved rhymes, especially the ones her mother and grandmother used to recite to her. Now that she’s all grown up, she enjoys writing them.

 One such rhyme was "to market, to market to buy a fat pig, home again, home again jiggity jig!". But no one ever told her what happened to the pig when it got home.

She always wondered, so she wrote a funny book about a frazzled shopper who brings home one very naughty pig and a host of other uncooperative animals from the market. 

Of course, they make a big mess. What, oh what will she do? You'll have to read the book to find out! To Market To Market, illustrated by the amazing Janet Stevens, has been translated into Korean and is still enjoyed by kids all over the world.

Another wildly popular selection is Glad Monster, Sad Monster, a collaboration with Caldecott Award-winning illustrator Ed Emberley.

This colorful monster book, complete with tear out and storable masks, has been translated into French and Spanish and is used world-wide to help children identify and cope with their feelings. It's well-loved by parents and teachers alike.

Interview With Author Anne Miranda

Photo courtesy of: Anne Miranda

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing multi-award winning author and illustrator, Anne Miranda.

I was particularly delighted when Anne agreed to do an interview with me. Many of her picture books lined the library shelves in my classroom and were a treat to read to my students.

Born in the United States, Anne has spent the last twenty-four years living in Spain and raising her children.

She has two grown sons; the youngest one is an illustrator with whom she collaborates. 

An all around creative spirit, Anne has quite an impressive literary resume that includes: Night Songs, To Market, To Market, Beep! Beep!, Glad Monster, Sad Monster! and Who Said Boo? 

Anne's books have also been recognized for outstanding writing and illustrating, earning her many awards such as, the 1999 Parents' Choice Gold Award and an Abby Honor.

Now that you've been introduced to Anne, let's get to know more about this enterprising woman.

Hello, Anne and welcome to Lemon Drop Literary. Thank you for agreeing to do this interview.

Thank you for having me.

What inspired you to be a writer?

I was raised by my mother and grandmother. When I was little, my grandmother worked at Korner & Wood, an elegant turn-of-the-last century bookstore, in Cleveland, Ohio.  

My mother was a first grade teacher and then went into publishing when I was a teen.  Our house was chock full of books.

I particularly loved picture books and clever rhyming books and songs. I still do.  I basically write books that are a combination of these two genres. 

Is writing your full-time profession?

Yes and no. I work part time, but writing is my only source of income. 

How long have you been writing?

Off and on, since I was in university.

Which genres do you write?

Picture books and educational materials.

Photo courtesy of: Anne Miranda 

What do you find most challenging about writing for your genre?

Coming up with an idea.  I detest staring at a blank page.  I prefer having an assignment from a publisher.

With a framework, writing is more like doing a puzzle.  It’s much easier to problem-solve than to invent from scratch.

How many books have you written?

17 trade books. Many little books, stories and other materials for educational publishers.  I have no number to report.

What has been your most rewarding experience since publishing your work?

Once in a blue moon, I hear from a reader.  That’s great.

Photo courtesy of: Anne Miranda

What advice would you give to authors just starting out?

Be born into a publishing family, if at all possible. I was lucky. I was drawn into the publishing world by my mother, who was first an editor at J.B Lippencott, then at Scholastic, and finally managing editor and VP at Kirchoff/Wohlberg.

I worked with and for her until she retired at the tender age of 80.  I am still represented by Ron Zollshan at Kirchoff/Wohlberg.

The only other advice I might have is to forge ahead. These days, it’s possible to self-publish and a beginning writer can get his or her work into the marketplace without having to pass a publisher’s ridged standards.

If a writer plans to go the traditional trade book route, get a very good rep. It’s next to impossible these days to get a manuscript read by a major publisher without one.   

Can you tell us a little about Crazy Cow Designs?

I design T-shirts and other print-on-demand items Zazzle as the Crazy Cow.

It helps to keep my mind and my hands busy and hones my Photoshop skills. Many of the items have illustrations I did for Night Songs and Does a Mouse Have a House?

What inspired you to start The Niceness Network?

I’m from the mid-west and from an era where folks were just plain nice to each other all the time. I think it’s a good habit to choose and to foment.

I started the Niceness Network as a way to celebrate the positive things that are happening in the world, and the good that people do for one another. 

Photo courtesy of: Anne Miranda

Is there anything else you'd like your readers to know about you?

I'm the mother of two fantastic guys, who are now all grown up. They both played basketball and I spent most of the last twenty years taking them to practice and going to games.

I started a barbershop group in Madrid called, The Barbees, many years ago with some friends. The group has grown and has won three gold medals in Spain.

In addition to writing, I also paint, illustrate, do assorted crafts, garden, cook, and I love to dance. I'm very earthy-crunchy.

Can you tell us about any new releases coming out?

My newest book is Tangled, illustrated by Eric Comstock, published by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books. It's on their Spring 2019 list.

What are you working on now?

My younger son is an illustrator and a great source of ideas for projects. We are collaborating on a YA fantasy novel of his imagination, and a picture book I wrote that he is illustrating.   

How has living in Spain influenced your writing?

That’s hard to answer.  Living here has taken me far away from my audience and from the writing and publishing community. I work in a vacuum.   

What are your favorite books, movies, TV shows?

My favorite book is Wind in the Willows. I am a massive Harry Potter addict. I'm a fan of fantasy, and sci-fi movies and TV shows: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and so on.

As a mother of sons, I saw all of the super hero movies, a fair amount of Anime, all of the Disney and Pixar movies, and every action movie ever filmed. We consume a huge amount of media at my house.

Where can we learn more about you?

My website is www.annemiranda.com

Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/annemirandabooks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnneMirandaBooks

I have an author’s page on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Anne-Miranda/e/B000APVXIS/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1537269882&sr=8-2-ent

Thank you, Anne, for spending time with us and sharing your story. We wish you lots of luck in the future and continued success!

Photo courtesy of: Anna Miranda