A Star in My Orange

“Ordinary books of shapes concentrate on the geometric basics, such as squares, circles, and triangles. Rau looks to nature for inspiration and finds stars not just in the sky but in an orange half, a starfish, and a snowflake. She sees spirals in a seahorse, a ram’s horns, and a seashell. The concepts are a little less obvious than the commonly discussed shapes, but they are perfectly clear within the colorful, well-focused photos of scenes in nature. . . A very simple yet well-designed and effective book presenting fundamental forms that children can observe in nature. . .”

—Booklist

“Through one-sentence descriptions and full-color, uncluttered photographs, readers are taken on a journey of discovery in the natural world. Rau begins with a star in the sky and then moves to objects that children might be able to examine more closely to find that shape, including an orange, a starfish, a snowflake, and a daisy. The author’s other examples from nature are sometimes patterns: ‘branching’ as seen in deer antlers and a child’s extended arms and hands, and others as found (but not named) in a bee’s honeycomb, a turtle shell, and pinecones. The spiral is also considered and leads into the final page where the text comes full circle: ’I’m spinning, just like the Earth through the sky of stars.’ An illustrated spread at the end of the book provides additional notes.”

—School Library Journal