While building a path in his garden, Tan drops one of his square tiles. It breaks into seven pieces. Tan tries to arrange the pieces back into a square but much to the delight of his family he’s only able to create swans, foxes and cats.

Tan’s Tile teaches the creative thinking, imagination and Tangram shapes. It also a dual reader featuring sentences for early readers on the top of each page and sentences for more advanced readers on the bottom of each page. Several Tangram puzzles are also included in the book.

Author and illustrator Dominic Villari’s books feature well-developed stories with heart and humor that appeal to kids and parents alike. These timeless tales will grow with you and your children through pre-reading, beginning reading and novice reading.

Themes:

Creativity Independent thinking

Age Grade Range:

4 to 6 years Pre-K to First Grade

Excerpt: One spring day Emperor Tan was building a new tile pathway through his garden.

Tan admired the perfectly square shape of the clay tiles as he placed them uniformly along the path.

The last of the clay tiles slipped from Tan’s hand and fell to the ground, breaking into seven pieces.

The square was gone and his path would be one tile short.

Now it will never line up, said Tan. He decided to try putting the pieces back together.

After several attempts, he stepped back to look at his work.

That’s a lovely swan, admired his wife as she passed by Tan in the garden.

It’s supposed to be a square, muttered Tan, returning to work.

About the Author: Dominic Villari is well versed in the art and science of making stuff up and is often caught talking to things, especially when they don’t work right or are difficult to put together. These pursuits occasionally spill out onto paper in illustrated children’s books such as Sun and Moon, Bear is Hangry and The Yelling Monsters and fiction books such as The Wandering Princess and Talks to Things. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and daughter, both of whom have gotten better about knowing when he’s making stuff up.