Authors: Hilary and Drew McSherry
Illustrator: Drew McSherry
Publisher: Archway Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-4808-0131-8


Terrance the Trapezoid often sat alone on a hill, watching other shapes play. He felt like he didn’t fit in, so Terrance never joined in their games. He wasn’t like the other shapes. A circle, triangle, and square could be lots of different things, but not Terrance. He couldn’t see anything that was made from a trapezoid,” Hilary and Drew McSherry write in their children’s book, Terrance the Trapezoid.

This unnumbered forty-page letter-sized paperback presented by Fantastic Forms targets preschool to early elementary school aged children and readers who like learning about shapes. With no profanity, scary scenes, or violence, it would best be read to beginner readers based on some complicated multi-syllable words. Simplistic illustrations by Drew McSherry cover full pages with nicely sized font wording placed against cream-colored backgrounds. The end of the book has a reader’s guide that includes discussion questions, activities, and suggestions for older readers.

In this short, cute tome lonely Terrance the Trapezoid has no friends as he feels he does not fit in due to his shape. He does not look like Sammy the Circle, Tammy the Triangle, or Sid the Square who could be an eyeball, balloon, sun, tree, tooth, dress, box, road sign, and window. He cannot think of one object that is shaped like a trapezoid.

When he tells Sammy, Tammy, and Sid he is sad because he is not shaped like something, the three friends try to come up with an idea. Finally they have a solution to Terrance’s problem. By working together and using all four shapes of a circle, triangle, square, and trapezoid, a creative design can be made.

The four band together and make a boat, bird, aquarium, and rocket ship, using each of their important shapes as one. Terrance is happy that he feels he fits in, is needed, and now part of the group.

The engaging discussion guide gets children thinking about others and their feelings by being included in a project or doing activities creating pictures and designs while comparing and contrasting shapes. This simple but effective story not only promotes learning different forms, it emphasizes reaching out to others who may feel left out or different.

Thanks to the authors for furnishing this complimentary book in exchange for a review based on the reader’s honest opinion.

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