We are shapes
WE ARE SHAPES | Kirkus Reviews
by Melinda Beck ; illustrated by Melinda Beck ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 20, 2022
Six assorted shapes introduce themselves one by one, then come together in this minimalist concept book.
First up, a white, polka-dot square points out its four sides. Next, a red rectangle does the same, adding that it can be wide or tall. The green triangle describes itself as “pointy,” while the yellow circle admits it has no sides but can roll. Lumpy, a cloudlike shape, and striped, visaged, ropelike Squiggly model their own less-concrete attributes: Lumpy bounces; Squiggly wiggles and giggles. Together, the cast attempt to form a stack, but this proves challenging. Triangle is too pointy to support its fellow shapes, Circle is inclined to roll, and Squiggly is too unstable. However, persistence pays off, and the now-smiley shapes arrange themselves into a house. Beck is a respected, accomplished graphic artist, but here, the choice of using shapes to convey the welcome, if familiar, message of cooperative endeavor feels incongruously dispassionate and abstract. The book is conceptually inconsistent. Squares, rectangles, triangles, and circles are shapes and nouns with simple, universal specifications easily grasped by small children; but, the adjectives
lumpy and squiggly are not shapes and lack straightforward definitions, a discrepancy left unresolved. The text is similarly confusing. The shapes’ conclusion that “together we are a home” is contradicted by the illustration: Circle is a sun, Lumpy is a cloud, while Squiggly’s role (surrogate human?) is unclear.
(This book was reviewed digitally.)
Executed with more flair than substance, this board book is a miss. (Board book. 1-3)
- 1
Pub Date: April 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-83866-474-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Phaidon
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
Share your opinion of this book
Did you like this book?
|
|
||
for permission to display these lyric excerpts.WHO ARE THE MYSTERIOUS WE IN THE RUSSIAN AND ESTONIAN LANGUAGES? (ON THE PORTABLE USE OF THE 1ST PERSON PLURAL)
Key words: pronouns, figurative usage, Russian, Estonian
Literature
1. Adamov GB The mystery of two oceans. M., 1954. 480 p.
2. Bulgakov M. A. Master and Margarita. Stories. M., 1980. 480 p.
3.
Gelasimov A.V. House on Ozernaya. Moscow: Eksmo, 2009. 253 p.
4. Gorky M. Plays, dramatic sketches 1897-1906. M., 1970. 687 p.
5. Lotman Yu. M. The structure of a literary text. M., 1970. 380 p.
6. Mamochki BY https://mamochki.by/forum/13/171625/u_nas_rejutsya_zubkino_nam_vse.html (date of access: 06/13/2019)
7. Panova V. F. Yasny Bereg. L.: Molodaya Gvardiya, 1950. 230 p.
8. Tolstoy LN Collected works in fourteen volumes. Volume twelve. Novels and stories 1889-1904. M., 1953. 314 p.
9. Chekhov A.P. Plays. M.: Fiction, 1982. 301 p.
10. Shishkov V. Ya. Emelyan Pugachev: historical narrative. Book two. M., 1962. 847 p.
11. Yavorskaya G. Curlers and "magpie" // Youth. 1965. No. 7.
12. Adamov G. Kahe ookeani saladus. Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1957. 471 p.
13. Bulgakov M. Meister ja Margarita. Tallinn, 1995. 335 p.
14. Gorki M. Näidendid 1901-1906. Tallinn, 1959. 584 p.
15. Lotman J. Kunstilise teksti struktuur.
Tallinn, 2006. 573 p.
16. Naistekas http://naistekas.delfi.ee/foorum/read.php?32.8230682 (accessed 13.06.2019)
17. Panova V. Helge Kallas. Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1953. 215 p.
18. Šiškov V. Jemeljan Pugatšov. 2. raamat: ajalooline jutustus. Tallinn, 1956. 820 p.
19. Tolstoi L. Jutustused 1889-1904. Tallinn, 1958. 347 p.
20. Avanesov RI, Sidorov VN Essay on the grammar of the modern Russian literary language. Part 1. M.: Uchpedgiz, 1945. 236 p.
21. Apresyan Yu. D. Selected Works, Volume II. M.: School "Languages of Russian culture", 1995. 767 p.
22. Emil Benveniste. The nature of pronouns // General linguistics. M.: Editorial URSS, 2002. S. 285-291.
23. Bondarko A. V. Type and tense of the Russian verb. Moscow: Education, 1971. 238 p.
24. Bulygina TV, Shmelev AD Language conceptualization of the world (based on Russian grammar). M.: Languages of Russian. culture, 1997. 576 p.
25. Vinogradov VV Russian language (grammatical doctrine of the word).
Moscow: Higher school, 1972. 613 p.
26. Gard P. The structure of the Russian pronoun // New in foreign linguistics. Issue. 15. M., 1985. S. 215-226.
27. Gerasimenko N. A. Russian language. Pronoun. M., 2003.
28. Golovenkina L. Kh. Pronouns in the modern Russian language (functional aspect). Arkhangelsk, 2004. 158 p.
29. Graneva I. Yu. On the referent and non-referential use of the pronoun we // Bulletin of the Nizhny Novgorod University. N. I. Lobachevsky. No. 4. 2008. S. 206-210.
30. Graneva I. Yu. The pronoun we in modern Russian: a communicative-pragmatic approach. Dissertation of the candidate of philological sciences. Nizhny Novgorod, 2010. 197 p.
31. Daniel MA Is inclusive a first person pronoun (Terminological digression in a typological perspective) // Languages of the World. Typology. Uralistics. In memory of T. Zhdanova. Articles and memories. M., 2002. S. 232-251.
32. Krasilnikova EV A noun in colloquial Russian. functional aspect.
M., 1990. 126 p.
33. Kupp-Sazonov S. Is translation “one's own” or “foreign” text? // Works on Russian and Slavic philology. Linguistics. Own-foreign in language and speech. Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, 2016. C. 296-309.
34. Kulmoja I., Vaigla E., Soll M. A Brief Guide to Contrastive Grammar of the Estonian and Russian Languages. Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, 2003. 140 p.
35. Murygina ZM Deictic meanings of personal pronouns we, you in Russian // Language and people. M., 1970. C. 64-70.
36. Norman B. Yu. Russian pronoun WE: internal dramaturgy // Russian linguistics. Vol. 26. No. 2. 2002. S. 217-234.
37. Norman B. Yu., Plotnikova A. M. Constructions with the pronoun we: the formation of an actual or occasional collective identity // Bulletin No. 6 (34) of the National State Pedagogical University, 2016. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ konstruktsii -s-mestoimeniem-my-formirovanie-aktualnoy-ili-okkazionalnoy-kollektivnoy-identichnosti (date of access: 06/13/2019)
38.
Russian pronouns: semantics and grammar: interuniversity collection of scientific papers. Vladimir State Pedagogical Institute named after P.I. Lebedev-Polyansky. From. ed. A. B. Penkovsky. Vladimir: VGPI, 1989. 147 p.
39. Sannikov VZ The Russian language in the mirror of the language game. Moscow: Languages of Russian culture, 2002. 552 p.
40. Shelyakin MA Russian pronouns (meaning, grammatical forms, use): materials for the special course "Functional grammar of the Russian language". Tartu: Tartu State University, 1986. 90 p.
41. Urzha A. V. Praesens historicum or dramatic present? On the issue of terminological designation and pragmatics of present forms in the translated narrative // Žmogus ir Žodis. vol. 17, no. 3, 2015. http://www.zmogusirzodis.leu.lt/index.php/zmogusirzodis/article/view/123/119(date of access: 06/13/2019)
42. Blackwell S. Variations in “motherese” pronoun usage // Studies in Variation, Contacts and Change in English. Towards Multimedia in Corpus Studies, vol 2, University of Helsinki, 2007.
http://www.helsinki.fi/varieng/series/volumes/02/blackwell/ (Accessed 13/06/2019)
43. Blokland R., Kehayov P. Vene keele mõjust eesti keeles. Tagasivaateid ja perspektiive // Keele rajad. Pühendusteos professor Helle Metslangi 60. sünnipäevaks. Paths of language. Festschrift for professor Helle Metslang on the occasion of her 60th birthday. (= Eesti ja soome-ugri keeleteaduse ajakiri. Journal of Estonian and Finno-Ugric Linguistics 1-2.) Tartu: ESUKA-JEFUL, 2010. C. 35-54.
44. Brown P., Levinson S. Politeness: Some language universals in language use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. 345 pp.
45. Declerck R. The Grammar of the English Verb Phrase. The Grammar of the English Tense System, vol. 1, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2006. 846 pp.
46. Erelt M. Kõneleja ja kuulaja kaudse väljendamise võimalusi eesti keeles // Keel ja Kirjandus, 1, 1990. S. 35-39.
47. Gibbs W. W. Saving Dying Languages // Scientific American. 2002 Vol. 287, no. 2, 2002.
P. 78-85.
48. Kaiser E., Hiietam K. A Typological Comparison of Third Person Pronouns in Finnish and Estonian // In A. Dahl, K. Bentzen & P. Svenonius (ed.), Nordlyd 31(4), Proceedings of the Workshop on Generative Approaches to Finnic Languages, 2004. P. 654-667.
49. Kupp-Sazonov S. Grammatiline sugu - tõlkija sõber või vaenlane? // Paar sammukest XXVIII Eesti Kirjandusmuuseumi aastaraamat, Tartu: Eesti Kirjandusmuuseumi Teaduskirjastus, 2011. S. 103-126.
50. Lindström L. Kõnelejale ja kuulajale viitamise vältimise strateegiad eesti keeles // Emakeele Seltsi aastaraamat. 2009. 55. S. 88-118.
51. Pajusalu R. Deiktikud eesti keeles. Tartu: Tartu Ülikool, 1999. 210 S.
52. Pajusalu R. Pronouns and reference in Estonian // STUF - Language Typology and Universals. Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung. 2009 Vol. 62, issue 1-2, 2009. P. 122-139.
53. Phillips K. Language and class in Victorian England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1984. 190 p.
54. Pool R.
About the use of different forms of the first and second person singular personal pronouns in Estonia cases // Estonian: typological studies III. Publications of the Department of Estonian of the University of Tartu 11. Toim. Mati Erelt. Tartu: University of Tartu, 1999. P. 158-184.
55. Pyykkö R. Who is ‘us’ in Russian political discourse // Us and Others: Social Identities Across Languages, Discourses and Cultures. Ed. Anna Duszak, Amsterdam: Benjamins, 2002, pp. 233-248.
56. Siewierska A. Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns // The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. In: Dryer, Matthew S. & Haspelmath, Martin (eds.) Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 2013. URL: http://wals.info/chapter/44 (Accessed: 13/06/2019))
57. Štšadneva V., Velman-Omelina J. Viisakusevormidest eesti- ja venekeelsetes ametlikes paralleeltekstides // Lähivõrdlusi. Lahivertailuja. 2016. 26. S. 481-500.
58. Wills D. D. Participant deixis in English and baby talk // Talking to Children.
1977. P. 271-298.
Authors - MIF Publishing House
We are looking for Russian authors - professionals and enthusiastic people who are ready to share their experience. To suggest your book or game, please fill out the form at the bottom of the page.
Why we are
We publish books and games that both the author and us can be proud of. This means that our team will do everything to select a high-quality design for the product.
We promote each product individually. We believe that the success of a book or game depends in part on how the author promotes it. You will have at your disposal all the promotional practices that we applied to our previous bestsellers. We know how to make the product known.
Read the step-by-step plan for publishing a book in MIF. By submitting a manuscript, you agree to the terms and conditions of the plan.
Which manuscript we are interested in
— The book should be useful.
— There should not be much "water" in it.
- Volume - no more than 300 pages.
— This is not a "one idea" book.
What the authors say about us
Publishing in MIF is a guarantee that your book will not just be in “good company”. This will be a great company.
We asked the authors who published their books with us to say a few words about our joint work.
Larisa Parfentyeva
bestselling author 100 Ways to Change Your Life
Here are five reasons authors should work with MYTH. First, there are values. MIF publishes only good books that can change the world. It is important for me to work with those for whom contribution to the world is the main value. Secondly, MIF has a very professional team of editors, who make the manuscript “cut” in jewelry and it becomes even stronger and of higher quality. Thirdly, MYTH has the most powerful platforms for promoting the book. The company has an innovative approach to marketing: each book has its own producer, who is responsible for ensuring that as many people as possible know about it.
Fourthly, MYTH is a brand.
“If a book came out in MYTH, it means it’s really cool!” one of the readers wrote to me.
Well, the last reason is the attitude towards the authors. Authors here really love!
Zina Surova
author of the books Zanimalki, Nakhodilka and many others
At that time, only two children's books were published in the publishing house, the children's direction had just begun to work. We met. I was waiting for the usual acquaintance with the publisher. She brought already published books and the project "Findings" in the form of a printout on two A4 sheets. I was skeptical, because from the experience of communicating with different publishers, I knew that it was necessary to offer a finished project, and not just one spread. Even if it clearly expresses the idea and style of the whole book. No pile of published books, no awards will help here: they simply won’t believe you that you will do it.
And MIF did not even doubt it. Instead of unnecessary persuasion, it turned out to be a constructive conversation about the project. And two months later, Finders came out and are still being published. All our further joint projects had a similar fate.
There is one more feature of our work with MYTH: my husband, co-author and designer Philip, and I love to invent whole books: we compose text, draw pictures and make designs. Moreover, at first there may not be text, but pictures or a layout. Such freedom in work is good for projects. In the process, we discuss everything with our editor and head of the children's department Anastasia Troyan. I remember the case when our story "Summer in the Village" was not yet finished, and the cover design had already been adopted.
Kostikova Natalya
bestselling author Creativity with kids
When the idea of creating a book came up, for me there was no question of choosing a publisher (even though it sounds more like a popular advertising cliché :-), but it's a fact).
In my understanding, MIF is the best Russian publishing house, and I can hardly add anything to this. I was very worried that they would not answer me at all or would refuse me when the correspondence began.
The idea of creating a book was rather a joint one, since I couldn't bring myself to admit that I could WRITE A BOOK. This thought hovered somewhere near me, but I managed to catch it only with MYTH.
Our correspondence was so active that I can no longer remember all the details. And I am very grateful to the publishing house that all the employees very meticulously answered all my (sometimes stupid) questions. I had to wait for an answer only if the addressee was absent (usually on some business trip), but, as a rule, not for very long. Work on my book went smoothly in terms of communication with the publishing house, and so my son and I, of course, stood on our heads (mostly him) to create the best content.
There were many questions that I was embarrassed to ask, although now I understand that it was stupid, as it slowed down my work.
The first book left the best impressions, which gave me a magical kick and the idea of creating the next book. Probably, everything turned out differently, I would not dare to write the second one.
I can hardly guess how many destinies the books published by MIF have changed, but most likely very, very many! But I can definitely say about myself. After all, before that, what could I say ... I'm a photographer, I'm also engaged in the information business, to which I always heard two questions: "Will you shoot a wedding?" "Infobusiness... what is it?" And now I can proudly say: "I write books." And even more proudly: “Do you know the MYTH? Here I am cooperating with them!” Everyone says: "Oooooh, MYTH, of course we know." “Well, yes, books, of course, are cool!” “Well, it’s clear, then you can’t shoot a wedding :-)”. "And when is your next book coming out?"
Alexandra Balashova
author of books Stockholm and Fun Journey
Hello everyone! I will begin my story about my work with the Mann, Ivanov and Ferber publishing house with a little background.
I've always loved children's books, and when MIF started publishing them, the market for children's books changed. It seems to me that the publishing house has instilled a love for activity books, for books that you can write and draw in, that you can cut and color, and it's so cool!
I got into the publishing house somehow by myself. I had a project - I drew city postcards that could be downloaded on the Internet, printed, cut out and assembled as a multi-layered postcard. I also painted Stockholm, Gojeborn and Malmo for the Swedish Tourism Office. Even then, the Swedes and I began to discuss how great it would be to make a book about Stockholm, Scandinavia is very close to me and I really liked this idea of a children's guide, Nastya Kreneva from MIF Childhood liked it too. And everything turned around. In addition, at the first stage of work, we discussed the publication of my multi-layered postcards in the form of a book, and at that moment I had proposals for publication from 5 or 6 other publishers, but I chose MYTH.
It seems to me that each publishing house has its own style and its own content, and my cities fit perfectly into the MYTH.
Working on both books is a long and difficult process, but I really like the way it is built in the publishing house. First, the structure of the book is discussed and a turn-by-turn plan is drawn up, and then I start drawing.
Of course, there are always edits, but the initial discussion of the idea and a clear request from the editor reduces them to a minimum.
In general, the work is built very clearly, and the result is not long in coming. What is especially important for me (after all, I have my own vision), all edits and ideas are discussed, that is, if I disagree with something and am ready to justify it and offer a better idea, then I do it my own way.
It was great to work with the MIF editors, I learned a lot about the technical side of the issue and learned how to better compose illustrations on spreads.
In general, if you are in the style of the MYTH, join us.
Slava Baransky
author of the book Doubt
I constantly receive feedback with gratitude. People literally give the book to friends and colleagues. A lot of people begin to take care of their body, reconsider their attitude to nutrition. But the most important thing happened a year later, when we launched the Doubt Challenge sports initiative, relying on the book brand. We were able to attract the most popular people to jogging - the news anchor of the largest channel, the second in the elections for the mayor of Kyiv, deputy ministers of several departments, deputy minister of sports, Miss Ukraine 2015 and many others. All of them somehow knew about the book and were happy to support the ideas set forth in it. They trained for 7 weeks and made their first races!
All this has grown into a sports hub, lecture hall, training programs with hundreds of participants! I think this is just the beginning of a movement that started with a simple book.
If we talk about working with a publishing house, then I found several advantages for myself.
1) Completely closed the issues of printing, proofreading, editing and sales. I did not want to do offline things, and I am glad that this question was taken away from me.
2) The strength of the publisher's brand helps sell the book and related items. You just say that "the book was published by MYTH" and everyone starts listening to you with genuine interest.
Take the first step towards your book or game - fill out the form
What direction of MYTH is your manuscript or game for? Choose the one you want and answer the questions in the form.
Business and personal efficiency
Psychology and self-development
Creativity
Children's books
Comics
Games
Prose 9000 We consider all applications carefully
Unfortunately, we do not have the opportunity to review manuscripts and give reasons for refusals if the material does not suit us for any reason.
