Four shapes--a blue circle, a yellow square, a red rectangle, and a green triangle--star in this sweet and silly celebration of friendship. Spare text describes a trait ("Friends make you feel happy"), which the thick-outlined foursome then brings to life in eye-catching, clutter-free spreads (the shapes are arranged as a smiling face). Amusing, well executed, and engaging.

The ups and downs of friendship are explored in a geometric romp. Rosenthal and Lichtenheld (Exclamation Mark, 2013, etc.) rarely disappoint when paired together. From the adorably clever title alone (one hopes the realization of that particular play on words instantly inspired the entire book), readers know they are in for a treat. A simply sketched square, triangle, rectangle, and circle are all friends. They explain why it is good to have pals around. Some of the vignettes are concept-based: the triangle and square form a house, with the rectangle as the red carpet ("Friends make you feel at home"). Others are more literal: an image of the shapes all tilted toward one another is paired with this truism: "Friends are always there for you to lean on." Friendship is not always easy; sometimes quarrels break out (Lichtenheld's thick, black outlines become dented and bumpy). But friends never "stay bent out of shape for long." Chortle. The shapes take turns stacking, turning, and tumbling to portray the many aspects of friendship. But the very best? Friends fill our lives with...a certain word that all four shapes can approximate to spell. Creative minds will delight in figuring it out! Friends come in all shapes, but these four just may be the sweetest. (Picture book. 4-8)

Rosenthal's cheerful observations about friendship provide punny setups for longtime teammate Lichtenheld's (Duck! Rabbit!) visual jokes, all composed with four happily smiling shapes: a blue circle, a yellow square, a red rectangle, and a green triangle. The book is well-suited for an adult and child to work through together as they read each sentence, one per spread, and see where Lichtenheld's shape play leads. For "Friends make you feel at home," the triangle sits on top of the square to create a house, while the red rectangle lies in front of it. "We rolled out the red carpet for you!" the square tells the blue circle. Sometimes there's a rebus to decode, as when the yellow square completes the phrase "Friends play fair and [square]." "Friends sometimes think the exact same thing at the exact same time" shows each shape thinking about an identical photograph of a banana. It's upbeat entertainment, and a natural lead-in both to conversations about friendship and to creative activities using cut-out shapes of one's own. Ages 3-5. Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

PreS-Gr 2-The reliably inventive Rosenthal and Lichtenheld here reprise their elegant layers of simplicity found in Exclamation Mark (Scholastic, 2013) and Duck! Rabbit! (Chronicle, 2009). Using shapes as personified characters, the text explores axioms about friendship. With expressive eyes and mouths, a digitally colored red rectangle, green triangle, yellow square, and blue circle pose on spreads to illustrate concepts like "Friends make you feel at home." For this, the quartet poses with rectangle as a red carpet, square atop triangle to create a house shape, and circle rolling toward them with a grin. Each axiom in large black print is complemented by the characters' conversations, as when rectangle thanks triangle for his literal support for "Friends are always there for you to lean on." The finale shows them lined up vertically, rectangle-circle-triangle-square, to represent the word love. VERDICT This is a winning introduction to simple shapes and colors as well as a pleasing choice for children who will relate to the emotions and appreciate the visual puns.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.