One Watermelon Seed [Paperback]

Celia Barker Lottridge (Author), Karen Patkau (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

Here's a wonderfully innovative book for children who are just learning to count. As we watch Max and Josephine tend their garden, there are ample opportunities to count--from 1 to 10 as the garden is planted and from 10 to 100 (in tens) while the garden is being harvested. And there's more to count than plants. Bees, ants, worms, butterflies, and other animals also adorn the pages, and children will want to count them too. Bold, colorful illustrations by Karen Patkau accompany Celia Barker Lottridge's direct text. Not only is the book good arithmetic fun, it also offers a fascinating introduction to gardening as well.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Pres-Grade 2—Numbers, colors, and gardening are combined in this vividly illustrated counting book. The story starts as Max and Josephine plant a garden, first 1 watermelon seed, then 2 pumpkin seeds, and so on all the way to 10. The phrase, "and they grew" follows mention of each new set of seeds. The graphic-style illustrations depict the seedlings as they grow, with an occasional gardening glove, tool, watering can, or young hand inserted into the scenes. After a center spread with colorful plants filling the pages to capacity and Max and Josephine busy at work, it's time for the harvest. The fruits and vegetables are so plentiful that they must be counted in tens: "ten watermelons, big and green, and twenty pumpkins, glowing orange." The vibrant colors and close-up views of the produce make it look delicious and irresistible. Later, on a cold winter night, the children turn "one hundred ears of corn" into "100s and 1000s of big, white crunchy puffs" of popcorn. Throughout the book, the text runs along the bottom of the double-paged illustrations, with the numerals, in bright colors, lining up beneath. This appealing book is great for classroom counting and discussions of seasons. Pair it with Lois Ehlert's Growing Vegetable Soup (Harcourt, 1987).—Jane Marino, Bronxville Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Praise from School Library Journal: Numbers, colors, and gardening are combined in this vividly illustrated counting book. The story starts as Max and Josephine plant a garden, first 1 watermelon seed, then 2 pumpkin seeds, and so on all the way to 10. The phrase, "and they grew" follows mention of each new set of seeds. The graphic-style illustrations depict the seedlings as they grow, with an occasional gardening glove, tool, watering can, or young hand inserted into the scenes. After a center spread with colorful plants filling the pages to capacity and Max and Josephine busy at work, it's time for the harvest.

 

The fruits and vegetables are so plentiful that they must be counted in tens: "ten watermelons, big and green, and twenty pumpkins, glowing orange." The vibrant colors and close-up views of the produce make it look delicious and irresistible. Later, on a cold winter night, the children turn "one hundred ears of corn" into "100s and 1000s of big, white crunchy puffs" of popcorn. Throughout the book, the text runs along the bottom of the double-paged illustrations, with the numerals, in bright colors, lining up beneath. This appealing book is great for classroom counting and discussions of seasons."

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 4, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195407350
• ISBN-13: 978-0195407358
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.3 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,322,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One Seed, One Hundred Watermelons!, May 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: One Watermelon Seed (Paperback)

If you teach kindergarten and you plant seeds with your class, then this is a book for you! Two children, one boy and one girl, plant a garden. They begin by planting one watermelon seed. They continue planting, two seeds, then three, all the way to ten. For each number, a different kind of seed is planted. When they examine the fruits of their labor, they find their yeild is ten times what they originally planted! This is a great book to reinforce counting by tens. Some of the vegetables are actually grouped into noticeable groups of ten. Color words and other adjectives are used to describe every fruit or vegetable in their harvest. This book is filled with concepts that are introduced in kindergarten and a great addition to my classroom library!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful staple children's book, May 8, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Watermelon Seed (Hardcover)

First published in 1986, One Watermelon Seed is a children's counting book that teaches young people about the numbers one through ten - followed by the numbers ten through one hundred! Two children Max and Josephine count the many seeds, plants, and harvested crops in their garden; their efforts are brought to brilliant life with vibrant color illustrations and easy-to-follow text. Each two-page spread perfectly illustrates the number being taught in this wonderful staple children's book, especially recommended for public library collections.

5.0 out of 5 stars My son got the bigger picture, July 14, 2011

By 

J M P "Hotel Mom 123" (WINDHAM, NH, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: One Watermelon Seed (Hardcover)

This book combines a story with counting first 1,2,3 and then 10,20, 30...100. It shows how one watermelon seed can become many. My son was eating watermelons and was very careful to save the seed so he could get more watermelons next summer like in the book. He also marveled about how many seeds it took to make a bowl of popcorn. This book is so simple and yet really has a big concept of quantity and counting and so much more. A great summer bedtime read after a barbecue or before starting your family garden.