written by Marilyn Burns and illustrated by Gordon Silveria
Recommended Grade Level: 1-3
NCTM standards: Geometry, Connections
Summary: This book tells the story of a triangle who is initially happy with the many situations in which he finds himself: he can be a piece of pie or the roof of a house, a sailboat sail or the face of a pyramid. Over time the triangle tires of his life and visits a shapeshifter who transforms him into a quadrilateral. Again he tires of his four-sided adventures and visits the shapeshifter again, and again, and again, each time being given one more side and one more angle and each time returning, bored with his new life. As he changes shape, he begins to neglect his friends and feel isolated and confused. He returns to the shapeshifter and asks to be turned back into a triangle, unsure why he was unhappy with this life in the first place.
Uses for this book: This book is a good introduction into basic geometrical shapes and it shows the difference between shapes when one side and one angle are added, changing the shape completely. One useful activity would be a shape stroll where students walk through the school looking for shapes in the real world. After this, students could create an art project where they construct familiar objects out of cut paper polygons.
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