Reviewed by Wendy Lipke
This hard covered children’s book is a tale in Tangrams. For those who are unaware of the term, an explanation is provided at the beginning of the book where it says, ‘the pictures in this book are all made from the same seven shapes, which form a puzzle called a tangram.’ It is further explained that ‘these seven shapes can be pulled apart, shifted, turned, flipped and put back together to make thousands of pictures.’
At the back of the book a square made up of these shapes is provided to be traced and then cut for the reader to create their own creations.
The ‘who’ in the title is the tangram and the book shows how with a little imagination so many different things can be made just out of these shapes. It requires a lot of imagination and artistic skill as the illustrations provided show. A few extra lines or features on the basic shape help make the picture clearer.
The examples given include animals, numbers, characters from books and everyday items. The illustrations are large and colourful and provide atmosphere for the illustration. The words accompanying these examples are set in rhyming form to add an extra layer of enjoyment making this a good book to read, to be amazed by the versatility of these shapes and to provide a challenge for the future.
This book could be used for different purposes covering young readers up to adults.
I could imagine someone who is creative and loves a challenge compiling a booklet of what they have created themselves to keep or share with friends. The colours of these results are at the discretion of the creator.
The author of this interesting book is Robert Henderson who writes and Illustrates picture books and describes himself as a worrywart and a wibbly wobbly thinker who likes words and ideas.
I think this is a wonderful book especially for those who love a bit of a challenge.
Who Might You Be?
(2025)
by R. Henderson
Allen & Unwin
ISBN:978-1-76052-627-6
$24.99; 36pp