One Hundred Is a Family - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 2-Beginning with the statement that "one is a family finding a place to call home," the text goes on to count to 10, then by 10s to 100, describing various groups as "families": for example, 6 is a family passing bread around, 60 is a family sharing a neighborhood street. The intent seems to be to encourage young readers to feel comfortable and loving with their neighbors and friends, but to call fellow apple pickers a family is to diminish the definition. With all of the literature encouraging children to realize that families come in all shapes-single parents, same-sex parents, mixed races, etc.- this well-meaning book makes the concept a little too broad for the intended age group, who might not yet grasp the idea of a global village. Aside from that, this doesn't work well as a counting book, either. "10 cheering runners round the bases" shows 7 people in the bleachers, one runner, a catcher, and a fielder. All in all, this is one warm-hearted effort that flops.
Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, NY
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4-8. "ONE is a family finding a place to call home. / TWO is a family starting a new life of their own. / . . . ONE HUNDRED is a family caring for the fragile universe . . . / and making life better for every ONE on earth." In singsong verse, Ryan uses groups of different kinds of "families" to count from 1 to 10 and then by 10s to 100. Huang's sprightly illustrations reflect Ryan's vision of families as a "patchwork of possibilities." "ONE" is a child sitting on a stoop surrounded by moving boxes. "TWO" is a man dancing with a gurgling baby. "ONE HUNDRED" is a group of children and adults picking up and fixing up a central lot. All are families created and connected by bonds of love, blood, friendship, or community. Comforting in that it presents and embraces a world in which every form of family is welcome, this thematic counting book is an appropriate selection for story-hour programs that focus on both traditional and nontraditional "families" and for patrons' increasingly frequent requests for such material. Annie Ayres