WE ARE ONE
How the World Adds Up
Available now!
Illustrated by Linda Yan
Candlewick
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0114-7
One can be one thing
all on its own—
one star, one stream,
one stick, one stone.
But those on their toes,
those using their smarts,
know one can be more
than the sum of its parts.
Consider the two slices of bread that make up one sandwich, or the three lines of poetry that craft one haiku, or even the ten years that form one decade. From one to ten, from sandwiches to centuries, every part is necessary to the whole.
This book offers a mind-expanding look at early math concepts like part/whole relationships, fractions, and addition. Underlying themes of cooperation, peace, and unity make this visually stunning volume one to be enjoyed by anyone at any age.
Praise for WE ARE ONE:
★ Kirkus (Starred Review)
“Immensely satisfying for young lovers of numbers and fascinating
for everyone.”
“Hood uses simple rhymed couplets pitched to offer examples of single units composed of one to 10 separate parts. For instance, the number of acts found in each of Shakespeare’s plays, the number of dot positions in a Braille cell, and the colors of the rainbow are used for five, six, and seven. Yan’s bright, full-page illustrations in cartoon-animation style star a small, dark-haired, pale-skinned child with a diverse supporting cast of child and animal characters and give energy to every spread. A yellow panel runs across the bottom of all the pages with a longer explanatory text that includes details and further examples….Backmatter includes sources for the facts as well as child-friendly sources for more information; happily, there’s also a collection of more examples for each of the first 10 integers, including the names of shapes for triangles through decagons.”
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/susan-hood/we-are-one-hood
School Library Journal
“This rhyming book travels the world through numbers, with examples as varied as the five acts of Shakespeare’s plays to the nine innings in baseball. At the heart of the narrative is the Aristotelian ideal that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, born out both through the primary rhyming text and the prose narrative with factual tidbits that run across the bottom of each page as the story progresses. With a blend of animal characters and humans who are dressed like stars, the illustrations play with the presence of light throughout the story, enforcing the idea in the book that “we’re a vast constellation.” The colorful, gentle illustrations are perfectly suited to the text, and the book feels very much like a bedtime read that can grow with a curious child. VERDICT A lovely addition to home libraries and library collections for young readers.” –Jen McConnel, Longwood Univ., Virginia
Click book jacket to enlarge.
The Horn Book
Math meets philosophy, as Hood views numbers, specifically groups of one to ten, through a unique and thought-provoking lens: the Aristotelian concept that the whole can be greater — more useful, more remarkable, more valuable — than its individual components. … Textured and whimsical, Yan’s digital illustrations feature a young girl dressed as a golden-yellow star who, ultimately, is joined by a diverse “constellation” of other star-children to celebrate the oneness of humanity.
—Tanya D. Auger
Fuse 8 31 Days, 31 Lists: Math Books for Kids
Counting books become rote after a while. Expected. You begin to yearn to see how someone might shake ‘em up a little. Now what’s so interesting about the latest from Hood & Yan is a very early statement in the text that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” That little nubbin of philosophy drives the rest of the book, and you can practically see little minds expanding as it does. —Betsy Bird
Publishers Weekly
Included in a PW list of “High Concept Picture Books for Children … that defy convention and spark understanding.”
Unity and connection are celebrated in this look at early math concepts like part/whole relationships, fractions, and addition that explores the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
It is precisely because not a lot of our world today does seem to add up (in non-mathematical ways) that I find this book so comforting. It’s a primer on early math concepts, and it’s a reminder that we’re all connected to something larger than ourselves.
The primary (non-small print) prose is laid out in pleasing rhymes (couplets) and playfully explores the world of numbers. All of the concepts that appear, and their corresponding fine-print facts, are (subject-wise) all over the place — one of the most delightful things about this book. We learn about the first recorded sandwich, haiku, a compass, Shakespeare’s plays, ballet positions, Braille, the currency of early American colonists, the nine baseball positions, and much more. The world is a vast and complex and fascinating place, we are reminded.
After ten, things turn cosmic: We read that we are all “part of a family, a team, the world’s beating heart.” That Hood and Yan go from a detailed look at how our world “adds up” to such a big-picture concept (we’re all made of atoms and are all in this together) is splendid. —Julie Danielson
School Library Connection
A poetic ode to numeracy, this unique mathematical concept book walks the reader through numbers one through ten and explains how those are significant to a variety of topics. Beginning with the idea that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” the tone of the text resembles what might happen if Bill Bryson wrote a children’s book. Each page has a bit of poetry, which can be read alone or coupled with what is essentially a footnote which provides background information on a topic related to the given number. For example, number two names two slices of bread as making a sandwich, then details how John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, lent the food his name…. Other topics attached to the numbers include: haiku, the compass, ballet, Braille, snowflakes, the “seven seas,” octagons, nine innings of baseball, and a decade—just to name a few.
Included is a section titled "Sources and Resources" that refers to the definitions of featured topics and quotes. Another section, titled “Especially for Kids,” includes several YouTube links and kid friendly websites that further delve into topics like base ten and the Braille System. A final section, “More About How the World Adds Up,” lists things that come in groups (legs on a shrimp, Santa’s reindeer, Beethoven symphonies) and is laid out one through ten, with five or more examples for each.
This book would make a lovely addition to any elementary math collection looking for something that goes beyond traditional counting books. … Provides encyclopedic substance to the mere memorization of numbers one through ten as well as cross-curricular opportunities and even social-emotional tie-ins to teamwork and belonging. —Jenny Gapp, Teacher Librarian, Peninsula Elementary School, Portland, Oregon Recommended