Sally Fawcett is a primary school teacher with a passion for art, creative writing and education. Her three children are a constant source of inspiration for ideas, and have triggered many of her writing and illustrating adventures. Sally’s motivation for creating picture books is to engage adults and children in a shared experience that will hopefully foster a life-long love of reading, creativity and tapping into the power of the imagination.
What Could it Be?
USD $17.99 Tax Included
Out of stock
Exploring the Imaginative World of Shapes
This concept book for kids is all about unleashing creativity, thinking outside the square and opening the mind to possibility! Part picture book, part artistic inspiration, What Could It Be? is an interactive adventure for pre-primary and primary school-aged children organised into paired double-page spreads.
The first spread in each pair introduces a basic geometric shape (square, circle, triangle, etc.) and then opens the door for creative thinking by posing the question, ‘What else could it be?’ The following spread provides the answer, with the focus shape transformed into many objects in a glorious artwork. These pages provide a further interactive element as kids are encouraged to find specific objects and count the ‘hidden’ shapes.
The reader is guided through the pages by the character of a young boy, who allows many aspects of his world to be ‘discovered’ via the detailed illustrations. The last page challenges kids to create their own illustrations inspired by a geometric shape.
Download the Teacher’s Notes Here
SPECIFICATIONS: Hardcover | 215 x 288 mm / 8½ x 11¼ inches | 35 Colour Illustrations | 32 Pages |
Educating Young People
“This clever concept encourages full interaction which makes the text perfect for classroom read aloud, encouraging children to make connections with hidden shapes found in their environment”
School Librarian
“the searching element is great for group discussion … contextualised fun”
The Book Chook
“Here’s an educational and fun children’s picture book that encourages primary school kids to both use their imaginations, and become more aware of mathematical shapes in their environment. Thumbs up for any book that encourages children to open their minds to all sorts of possibilities with shapes, and also to create with shapes themselves. It’s a simple concept, not daunting for less enthusiastic readers, and well-executed.”
School Days
“An interesting concept interactive book designed to unleash children’s creativity”
Peninsula Kids
“An interactive adventure”
Mummah
“This concept book for kids is all about unleashing creativity, thinking outside the square and opening the mind to possibility!”
Foreword Reviews
“If your children weren’t excited about geometry before, they will be after experiencing Sally Fawcett’s What Could it Be? Challenging young minds to think outside the box or square, art, nature, math, and creative thinking all converge as a spiderweb becomes a hexagon and the tip of a wooden spoon, covered in chocolate and ready to lick, becomes an oval. Starting with basic shape outlines, then progressing to more involved scenes, children are asked to find a variety of different colored shapes within a given setting, ranging from a cozy kitchen to snow-covered mountains and the sunny seaside. Little fingers will be itching to turn rectangles into rocket ships as children view the world around them in a whole new light.”
NC Teacher Stuff
“Written by a teacher, this charming picture book is an interactive search for shapes in the real world … Sally Fawcett deserves a round (or square) of applause for this fine effort.”
Life FM
“when I turned the first page I saw some very interesting illustrations. I never considered my leg is a cylinder… a bee hive has lots of hexagons….” – reviewed by Megha, aged 6
Playgroup
“The beautiful, thoughtful illustrations are engaging and a wonderful way to introduce shapes to children”
The Mummy Project
“It’s a great book to teach kids to think outside the square by promoting investigation and creativity. My six-year-old daughter spent a long time reading this book and examining the shapes before sketching her own shapes as part of an artwork.”
The Daily Telegraph
“This is a creative, amusing and intriguing book… The writer is a teacher and her experience with young children is evident throughout the book.”
Mid West Book Review
“Original, unique, as educational as it is entertaining, What Could It Be? is especially recommended for family, preschool, elementary school, and community library collections.”
Parents in Touch
“There is so much to enjoy in this book – each time you re-read it, you will discover a new dimension. Stimulating and imaginative, as well as beautifully illustrated, it’s a superb way to get children thinking.”
Batch of Books
“Ultimately, I like the concept of What Could it Be? I like that it shows the shape first, then gives kids a chance to look and find real life examples of those shapes. I like the way it gets my kids involved in the story and hunting for shapes. I also like the activity idea at the end of the book.”
Kiss The Book
“Ms. Fawcett explores the way different shapes make up our world.”
You may also like…
The Art Garden
All children have ideas about what they might be when they grow up. In The Art Garden, Sadie dreams of being an artist like her best friend Tom, but every time she tries to paint she just ends up making a mess. In overcoming her frustrations, she realises there are many different ways of creating pictures and stories.
This delightful book follows Sadie as she gallops round her garden with Tom and learns that a change of perspective can change everything. Join her as she embraces her own unique strengths and creativity to make something beautiful.
Download the Teacher’s Notes and Trace ‘n’ Draw worksheets here.
SPECIFICATIONS: Hardback | 245 x 255 mm / 9 ½ x 10 Inches | Colour | 32 Pages |
Through the Gate
From: USD $8.99Through the Gate tells the story of a child who has just moved house and is struggling to cope with all the changes in her life. She relates to the dilapidated house she has moved to, as she sits sad and forlorn upon its broken front step.
But, as the story unfolds, the house is gradually repaired paralleling how the child’s perception of her new situation improves. Each time the child passes ‘through the gate’, into the world beyond, she notices more of her surroundings and discovers that her new life has some wonderful things in it.
Within the illustrations is a ‘spot the difference’ game that encourages interaction with the story and develops observation skills. Younger children can be involved in spotting the more obvious changes and older children will be challenged with the more subtle transformations.
Teacher’s notes available here.
SPECIFICATIONS: Hardback/Paperback | 245 x 255 mm / 9 ½ x 10 Inches | Colour | 32 Pages |
Through the Gate has been shortlisted for the 2018 Speech Pathology Awards, and is recommended by the Australian Association of Family Therapy Award for Children’s Literature. Congrats Sally!