Triangle (The Shapes Trilogy #1)

Children will be intrigued by the fairy-tale quality of this narrative and may enjoy debating the motivations of its peculiar characters.

The simple sentences and repetition are perfect for a young audience, who will be raptly interested in the devious dynamic between the friends. Judging by this offbeat first volume, Barnett and Klassen's planned trilogy is shaping up to be an excellent one.

Fans of this author-illustrator team, and of each creator individually, will recognize elements such as Klassen's trademark simple shapes, sumptuous textures, and expressive eyes, not to mention a pesky antihero and a chase scene that goes in one direction, then back

In the first book of a planned trilogy from the team behind two Caldecott Honor winners (Extra Yarn and Sam and Dave Dig a Hole), Triangle plots some serious mischief. He's a charcoal-colored triangle with sticklike legs and Klassen's famous shifty-eyed stare, and he plans to frighten his friend Square. Triangle sets off through the triangles in his neighborhood, across a wilderness of rocky mounds ("They were shapes with no names," Barnett intones) and on through a lot of squares to Square's house. "I will play my sneaky trick," Triangle announces. He hisses like a snake, Square is terrified, and there's a moment of silent, incandescent fury as Square glares at Triangle across the page. Square chases Triangle home and blocks his door, leaving Triangle in the dark, which frightens him right back. "You see, Triangle," Square crows, "this was my plan all along." Barnett ends with a rhetorical question for readers: "But do you really believe him?" Since the final spread shows Square stuck fast in the triangular doorway, the answer, clearly, is a resounding "No!" Klassen's palette is quiet, his weathered backdrops are elegant, and his comic timing is precisely synched to Barnett's deadpan prose. Triangle fools Square, and the story fools readers, too, as they wait for Square to put Triangle in his place, or for the two to reconcile. Instead, Triangle seems to win this round, even if he does finish the book trapped in his own home. Whereas the humor in Sam and Dave Dig a Hole was subtle and sly, this shape showdown is pure, antic buffoonery. Ages 5-9. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Mar.)

Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

K-Gr 2—A pair of practical jokes will have readers debating who started it in this picture book from the deadpan duo. Readers first meet Triangle, a simple shape with two large eyes and a sturdy pair of legs. Triangle declares that he's going to play a -sneaky trick- on Square, so he sets off across a backdrop of triangular landmarks, through the slightly wilder land of waterfalls and -shapes with no names,- into a region of squares to the house of Square, a similarly wide-eyed figure. Hiding outside and hissing like a snake, Triangle frightens Square and soon finds himself fleeing across the sparse landscape, with Square in hot pursuit. Returning to the safety of his triangular home, Triangle discovers that Square has a surprise of his own in store. But was Triangle the original instigator, or was turning the tables always Square's plan? Klassen's distinctive style of digital graphite and watercolor illustrations with lots of white space is well suited to the focus on simple shapes and a circular narrative that ends where it began. The horizontal movement from Triangle's abode to Square's house and back follows a clear line, with plenty of visual cues linking the text and illustrations. Both the occasionally repetitive text and the images make this title a good match for emerging readers. The characters convey an appropriate level of shifty expression through the movement of their eyes, and the ambiguous ending will elicit plenty of opinions from young audiences. VERDICT An understated ode to mischief that's sure to please fans of Sam and Dave Dig a Hole.—Chelsea Couillard-Smith, Hennepin County Library, MN

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Cheeky Triangle and ingenuous Square's quirky relationship is reminiscent of Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad, but with a twist. Klassen does remarkable things with a minimal canvas — shapes and eyes are all he's got, after all...This weird and wonderful picture book presents a whole new angle on shapes —and friendships.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers 

There's a lesson about friendship along with an amusing geometry lesson in this charming picture book from the writer-artist collaborators who created the acclaimed "Sam and Dave Dig a Hole" and "Extra Yarn."
—Buffalo News

This is funny stuff and, as to be expected from Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, delightfully off-kilter.
—BookPage

It's all in the execution: the perfect text, the visually arresting and funny art (those eyeballs of Klassen's! He really (re)invented eyeballs in picture books) — it's a huge read-aloud winner of a book.
—PW ShelfTalker (blog)

Deadpan humor and artistic precision—a combination we've come to expect from the wicked Barnett/Klassen collaboration—make this story a joy to read night after night.
—B&N Kids Blog

In the start to another amusing trilogy from the dynamic children's book duo Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, some very sneaky shapes are up to no good.
—Pregnancy & Newborn