This Equals That

Gr 3 Up—The only words in this book are those in the opening rhyme: "The book is a circle/Made up of squares/Turn the pages/Consider the pairs." While the rhyme may seem enigmatic at first, children will quickly deduce what they are being asked to do. The pairs that follow are sharp full-color photographs (each one and facing its mate on square-shaped pages). They show familiar objects and street and natural scenes that relate in one way or another to each other—through the shapes, colors, or patterns depicted or something a bit more abstract. Once viewers determine what the relationship(s) might be, they turn the page to find the recto image is now in the verso position, juxtaposed with a different photo. In one pairing, children will ponder how a large, ominous shadow of the outstretched limbs of a tree relates to a huge balloon of a sneering King Kong that sits atop a building, its arms raised high above its head. As the rhyme suggests, the book comes full circle when the same photo that opens the book, also ends it. A playful look at the ever-changing nature of relationships and an exercise in visual literacy.—Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal