In the tradition of Leo Lionni's Little Blue and Little Yellow (1959), this French import uses geometric shapes, color and size to explore compatibility and conflict ... Emotionally, the ups and downs of a day with a friend will ring true for young children. Bertier presents a marvelous springboard for using formal elements to create individual or collaborative narratives. -- STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus Reviews ...French artist's Bertier's meditation on geometrical shapes has a timeless feel. The books design and printing, in pure hues on creamy matte pages, make it a pleasing object in and of itself...Cheery, upbeat writing and pared down subject matter make it a fine choice for a younger audience, who will enjoy picking out the forms in each spread--and then, perhaps, experimenting on their own with paper and scissors.-- Publisher's Weekly Thanks to splendiferously discerning indie publisher Enchanted Lion Books (whose inspiring founder Claudia Z. Bedrick is also an accomplished translator), this is something completely original ... so much so that maybe I can be allowed at least a single O-M-G. -- Book Dragon Children will immediately relate to both the square and the circle. They may not have faces, but they convey emotions clearly on the page from anger to exuberance to friendship. Strong and vibrant, this picture book translated from the French, is a great pick for units on friendship or shapes. Appropriate for ages 3-5. -- Waking Brain Cells friendships aren't always easy. Often it is in compromise that a new reality is found. Anne Bernier uses two vibrant colors , strong graphic detail, and understated emotion to help young listeners open a discussion about conflict and cooperation. imaginative and entertaining, you won't want to miss it. Now get out the paper and scissors and let their imaginations soar! -- Sal's Fiction Addiction The story is at once simple in its playfulness and a beautiful allegory for the combinatorial nature of creativity and thought itself, for the way we transform the building blocks we assemble by way of being alive and awake to the world -- impressions, experiences, memories, influences -- into new combinations that we call our own ideas. -- Brain Pickings
