The Missing Piece Meets the big O

Title: The Missing Piece Meets the Big O
Author: Shel Silverstein
Publisher: Harper Collins 1981
Reading Level: 1st and up
Pages: 96
Genre: Picture Book










Summary:

This story starts out with a missing piece who is trying to find something to complete it. As the story goes along different parts come along and the piece tries to fit. However, each piece doesn't fit very well. Either it's too big, too small, too many missing pieces, or too many pieces, and the list goes on. Eventually the missing piece finds someone that it fits into perfectly. They go on and have a lot of fun, but then the missing piece begins to grown and it doesn't fit anymore. So then it is sad that it doesn't fit into anybody again. Then the Big O comes along and it doesn't have any missing pieces. The Big O tells the missing pieces that it can be like him too if it tries. So the missing piece "lifts...pulls...flops" again and again and again. As it continues to do this it begins to round off and eventually it becomes like the Big O. The pictures in this book aren't very intricate. They are simple, and there is one continuous line throughout the whole story. There are just circles and squares and triangles, but it portrays the images perfectly without any discrimination.

My Reaction:

I loved this book! It seems extremely simple when you pick it up, but then it carries a moral that works for ANY age. I found multiple meanins and I only read it once!

Potential Problems:

Where the pictures aren't very exciting, children might find it boring. It is a little bit longer, so they might have trouble focusing too.

Recommendations:

I would recommend this book to anynody of any age. There are many meanings that will be applicable to ANYBODY. Young, old, married, single, good and bad.