Book of the week – The Shape of my heart – Mark Sperring

 
  
The Shape of My Heart is a bright picture book  (illustrations by Alys Paterson)that we borrowed from the library.  I can’t decide if I like it or not, but Luath has requested it first and most often this week.  Luath was initially drawn to the penguins on the front holding the balloon.
It begins with a double page of brightly coloured shaped and they leave some white space which from an adult and a child image, with a heart shape inside each one.  The book goes through different sections sight, hear, taste, feet…
“This is the shape of our eyes and these are the shapes we might see”

“Something hot! Or something cold? Something savoury? Or sweet!”

I’m not sure about the text but the bright pictures are fun to look at and talk about and could be used from an early age.  We tend to expand my asking “where is the car going I wonder”, “which animal do you like today”  The heart image with all the shapes (on cover but also inside book) works great for counting how many cars, can we find all the things to eat, what is the dinosaur doing etc. I don’t think that the book really shows a child about love but perhaps I am missing something.
(Luath is 27 months)