Storytime: One, Some, Many

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Today we read One Some Many by Marthe Jocelyn

This is a vibrant book that presents the mathematical concept of quantity to children.

The Director of the Curriculum Materials Centre in the Faculty of Education at the Memorial University of Newfoundland recommends this book with reservations for the following reasons: "Unfortunately, this is an overly ambitious list of mathematical elements to include in a graphic concept book, especially one with such a limited text. As a counting book, it is disappointing that there are no numbers and that the sequence of counting is interrupted by the integration of the other concepts. Also, the elegant, stylized illustrations have the potential to cause confusion when young children are counting objects. For example, daisies with coloured centers and large overlapping petals are used to represent "two, a few, [and] a few is more than two." In all cases, the petals are not attached to the centers, and, if children count the petals rather than the centers, they will not get the correct information. A similar problem occurs with the number ten as Slaughter has chosen rectangles in a building to illustrate the number. There are ten rectangles for windows, but also another (although differently coloured) rectangle for the door, and the building itself is a rectangle. Young children may not be able to discriminate between those that represent the number and those that do not. Another problem is that the illustrations will not assist in understanding the difference between “some” and “few” as three pears are depicted for “some” and later three sailboats for “few.”

She says she "would only recommend it [the book] for children at the upper end of the suggested age range who already know the concepts and are beginning to read on their own. Even then, an adult may need to note that the two interrogative sentences should have capitals and that the plural form of the verb is generally used when adding numbers, rather than "two and three is five.”

With that in mind, the book was only used for an art experience and not much emphasis was placed on the concept of quantity.

The review of 'One, Some, Many' is Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association

This book is recommended for children in Preschool - Kindergarten