Triangle

3 August 2017

Set amidst a dystopian hellscape of repetition and conformity, Barnett and Klassen's story evokes a quiet terror in the unwary reader. Look into Triangle's mad, staring, eyes and see the sort of dread that comes to us all after thirty-six hours of bad coffee and no sleep.

The prose has been sucked dry of blood, or color, or warmth, or life: there is no trace of anything humane left. The prose is so terse, so spare, Cormac McCarthy is beating out his own despairing brains with the crumbling remains of Hemingway. No one else will ever approach so near to the void, where the only solace is that you have no back to turn on your best friend before he stabs you in it.

Most artists set their haunted houses amidst dark and shadowy show more sets, where the difficulty of seeing permits the mind to fill in the half-glimpsed with all that is worst in the imagination. Barnett and Klassen have set their nightmare against a stark, white, relentless background: this world is devoid of a single softening shadow, the universe itself is as inescapable and cruel as the ubiquitous eye of Big Brother.

In the end you are left exhausted, with nothing left except Triangle and Square, the two-dimensional shapes of pain.

***

11 May 2023

A conundrum: in this book Square knows what Triangle fears. But in CIrcle, published two years later, Triangle denies having that fear. What is truth, anyway?

Library copy show less

Triangle sets out to the house of his friend Square in this picture-book, walking past triangle-shaped objects, indeterminately-shaped objects, and then square-shaped objects. Once there, he plays a "sneaky trick" on his friend (pretending to be a snake), before hightailing it for home, Square in hot pursuit. Once back at Triangle's home, Square in turn plays a sneaky trick on his friend. But was it a deliberate act, as he claims, or is he simply stuck in place...?

A quick perusal of the illustrations will answer that question, of course, but Triangle still entertains, with its simple text and its appealing visuals. Using just a few shapes and colors, illustrator Jon Klassen manages to create some lovely vistas and amusing scenes. The show more artwork here really made the story come alive for me, as the plot-line itself felt a little random, and the text somewhat stilted. This was a surprise, as I usually enjoy author Mac Barnett's books. Recommended to fellow Klassen fans, and to anyone looking for quirky friendship stories with a little bite. show less

I was at the bookstore in the children's section and this just jumped out at me. In a sea of complicated covers, the bold simplicity of it was like WHAM! to my eyes. I feel like that alone is great.

The story is pretty good. More Klassen-ish than Barnett-ish to me, which is to say subtle and almost sort of creepy. I expect something livelier from Mac Barnett. But the illustrations dominate this and they are in Jon Klassen's signature muted color palette which I think detracts a bit from the playfulness of the story.

Their other picture book collaborations, [book:Sam and Dave Dig a Hole|20708761] and [book:Extra Yarn|12065943] have human characters that are more classic cute. These shape characters have the same eyes as the animals in show more Klassen's hat series. And while I like how expressive they are, they also kind of creep me out. So intense. show less

Meet Triangle. He is going to play a sneaky trick on his friend, Square. Or so Triangle thinks. . . . With this first tale in a trilogy, partners in crime Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen will have readers wondering just who they can trust in a richly imagined world of shapes. Visually stunning and full of wry humor, here is a perfectly paced treat that could come only from the minds of two of today’s most irreverent — and talented — picture book creators.

Wait, what?! A primer on vengeance? I've loved other works by both Jon and Mac, but this isn't funny, isn't interesting, and is ugly. Wtf? I tried reading others' reviews but they're so vague in their praise I'm just not getting anywhere.

Reread. Still don't love it, but do see more, see in a different light, and appreciate that Barnett is encouraging kids to be active readers, to think about, perhaps even talk about, the themes of stories. Is it really about revenge? Maybe not....

Third read so I can finish the trilogy all at once. Still just barely a three star book for me. Clearly I'm missing something. I'd love to talk it over with kids.

Triangle is going to play a sneaky trick on his friend Square. But then Square chases Triangle back to his house and plays a sneaky trick on him! Square claims that was his plan all along...but was it?

Another winner from Jon Klassen. He can even make shapes expressive.

This story is about a triangle. Everything in the beginning of the book is triangle related, until he makes his way to squares neighborhood. He lives in a triangle house, with a triangle door, triangle windows, in a triangle neighborhood. One day he decided he wants to play a trick on his friend Square, and in the end, the square played a trick on him. This book is extremely simple for children to read. It has a funny motif and kids would enjoy that. The book is illustrated in water colors, which is extremely simple and works well for the book. The illustrations make the book. Without them, the story would not make total sense.