Sven Volker Books

A core part of any early years teaching would be to make maths fun, part of play time and exploration and the Museum of Shapes is a perfect encapsulation of this principle.

From its perfect front cover, reminiscent of wooden building blocks found in a playroom, Volker introduces the reader to our curator (what a great word to start building early vocabulary), Alma. The book simply explains what she does and the illustration uses simple shapes to show Alma, complete with a square handbag, bowl haircut, her line lead and her dog, Max, a triangular tag hanging from his collar.

Each page is an introduction to the different shapes that Alma curates, both in text and illustration, from the simplest point to the blobby and wacky shapes of a leaf, a splat of ink and an amoeba. The reader is asked to identify shapes, choose shapes, mix shapes, arrange shapes, and spot shapes. This is a playful and interactive book with a real museum posited as its inspiration – the Museum of Concrete Art and Design in Germany.

An informative and playful book about maths.