Seeing patterns and different ways of calculation are standard concepts of mathematical reasoning, but there is nothing standard about this creative counting book. The potentially pedestrian subjects of counting, adding, and multiplication step up to another footing as each page or spread counts the number of feet of various creatures on a beach, from a snail with just one foot (of sorts) to a crab with ten feet, including its claws. Helpful white arrows within the humorous oil paintings point to the feet as each animal is introduced, helping to convey the logic of this way of seeing. The patterned text follows the sequencing in the title, moving on after numeral 10 to more complex computations of feet that march right into the concepts of multiplication and even elementary algebraic equations for those who choose to dip a toe into those waters. The buggy-eyed insects, crabs, and snails provide an appealing cast of characters who stand up to be counted against a summertime palette of orange sand and blue skies. (Picture book. 4-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7636-1406-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2003
Strom debuts with an determinedly exuberant book about a cool young African-American artist, Eloise, whose fondness for bold colors and boldly outlined shapes is happily echoed in the full-bleed acrylic spreads. Mama tells Eloise not to bother Joe when the two talk on the front steps, but it’s hard for Eloise to contain her eagerness to tell her elderly friend about her paintings. Far from bothered, the blind man she calls Rainbow Joe for reasons apparent only at book’s end loves to listen; he approves of her imagination. Rainbow Joe claims to make the colors he sees in his head. “I know how to make them sing,” he says early on. “One of these days I’m going to show you.” Eloise’s knowledge of the color wheel, which she shares incrementally with readers, tells her that vision is needed to mix colors. Even Mama says the only color a blind person can achieve is muddy gray. It isn’t until Joe unpacks his saxophone and plays colors that Mama and Eloise can see them. This exploration of sensory differences and similarities is enlightening and enchanting. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1999
ISBN: 1-880000-93-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999
This counting book takes readers from the numbers one to twelve in one long, rhythmic sentence that travels with the intrinsic taste of the Shakers, its subjects (one Shaker home, two Shaker doors, three Shaker doves, etc.), through their culture. The sentence ends, appropriately (given the group’s dwindling numbers) at the notion of the Shakers eating pies “as long as they are able at a long Shaker table.” Every spread includes a brief factual comment on the objects shown, and, with the afterword, fill out the picture of Shaker life past and present. It’s an evocative, elegantly simple book, to enrich arts and social history collections; with pictures of pies, dolls, hats, and tools, it also works for the learning-to-count crowd. (bibliography) (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8118-2299-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999
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