Shape Up, Construction Trucks!

As its title suggests Shape Up, Construction Trucks! combines two childhood favourites: shapes and construction vehicles. Each two-page spread of this simple picture book features a high-resolution photograph of a construction vehicle with a specific shape superimposed upon the vehicle in the picture. Rhyming verse identifies the vehicle and asks the reader to find the shape while underneath the verse is a coloured example of the target shape. The shape – in that colour – is then used to help the reader locate the shape on the machine, i.e. for the excerpt above, a red triangle is below the text and then a red triangle outline can be found on the dump truck.

Combining these two concepts – construction and shapes – is a novel idea and is effective at building vocabulary in both areas. The nine featured shapes range from the more expected triangle and circle to the more obscure trapezoid and rhombus. The vehicles featured included a dump truck, excavator, and crane. The photographs of the vehicles are bright and clear, showcasing these machines on sunny blue-sky days. The repetitive rhyming text offers language that is appropriate to the audience, though a little young for the older side of the book’s recommended age group.

The end of the book features five activities, addressed to adults, to help children learn and recognize shapes. One activity is to “Play shapes. One person draws a simple shape and the other makes it into a picture. Then switch roles.” For the most part, these activities are serviceable and accessible for the 2-5 set, with the exception of the activity that asks participants to gather toys and sort them by shape as the bulk of children’s toys will not sort easily into these categories.

Shape Up, Construction Trucks! is a simple book executed well.