How Many Jelly Beans?: A Giant Book of Giant Numbers!
By Andrea Menotti
Illustrated by Yancey Labat
Chronicle Books
$18.99
ISBN: 978-1-4521-0206-1
Ages 4-8
On shelves February 29th
Boy, I tell you. You get a kid and suddenly you find yourself scheming all these crazy schemes. “I’m going to get my kid to like vegetables!” “I’m going to get my kid to appreciate classical music!” “I’m going to get my kid to like math!” Crazy, right? I mean the first two seem doable, but the third? I’m an English major, guys. What are the chances that I’m even capable of instilling a math love in my offspring? To the rescue comes a new generation of picture books for kids with math-centric concepts. I’m not talking about books that take a math problem, turn it into a story, and somehow that’s going to magically get kids excited about integers. No, I’m talking about math books that practically dare kids to deny the pleasure of counting, estimating, etc. Such books most certainly exist, though it takes some digging to locate them. Now at long last we’ve a book that not only encourages kids to count on their own, but hits them over the head with a number they may hear all the time but could never quite comprehend. Until now.
Emma and Aiden. They like their jelly beans, they do. When Emma is asked how many she’d prefer she opts for a standard “Ten!” Not to be outdone, her brother Aiden asks for “Twenty!” So naturally Emma asks for twenty-five, and Aiden sees her twenty-five and raises the number to fifty. At a certain point, of course, Emma points out to her bro that when it comes to numbers like five hundred jelly beans (and you can see all five hundred on the table in front of them) there’s no way a person could eat that many. Aiden points out that in a year he could eat as many as a thousand. Up and up and up the numbers go, with more and more jelly beans filling the pages until at long last you reach the thrilling conclusion. Turn the page and you find some folded pages. On one side the kids are suggesting a MILLION jelly beans. Well, as it just so happens, that’s how many fill these folded pages. And finally, at long last, Aiden concedes that maybe a million, just maybe, might be too much.
It’s nice when you can imagine how a book’s going to be used. Author Andrea Menotti also happens to be a Senior Editor at Chronicle Books (whatta coincidence!). Her goal here was to give the book the barest outline of a skeleton of a plot on which to hang the art and those images of copious delicious colorful sugar bombs that appear on every page. The ending, I’ll tell you right now, relies on the shock of the number rather than the interaction between the two kids. Basically the dare at the end of the book that one number or another is “too many” is finally accepted. So there you go. When you first open it up you come to a two-page spread where Emma is being offered ten jellybeans. At this point a certain strain of child is going to insist on counting those beans, just to make sure the author and illustrator got it right. They’ll probably be the same kids that count the twenty an
What publisher created the first librarian preview, inviting local carriers of MLIS degrees to their places of work to show off the upcoming season? I don’t have an answer to that, I’m just asking. With my NYC preferences and tunnel vision my inclination is to believe that it was one of The Big Six based out of Manhattan. Still it’s not as if other publishers in other cities don’t do the same thing. Take Chronicle, for example. They’re a San Francisco publisher and as recently as November 8th they created a blog post about a recent Librarian Preview that showed off their upcoming Spring/Summer season.
As much as I wish that I’d had a chance to fly out to San Fran and back, my post today is based on something a little smaller. A couple Chronicle reps came out to New York and hosted a dinner preview for some of the folks in town, highlighting their awfully pretty list. I was present. I took notes (which I promptly spilled large amounts of food upon). I report dutifully back to you.
Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a mystery to me. Not her success, mind. The sheer swath of clever titles she produces from such a wide range of publishers causes one to tip a hat and bow down low before her. No, my confusion is based more on her rabid fan-base and “The Beckoning of Lovely” projects she has going on. Sometimes I feel like I need a crash course in Rosenthal 101. Chronicle has done well by the Rosenthal, of course. Her Duck! Rabbit! hit the top of the charts, helped in no small part by artist Tom Lichtenheld. Now the duo returns with Wumbers. And no, I’m sorry, but it is not a counting book narrated by Elmer Fudd (as awesome as that might be…). Wumbers are words plus numbers. The catalog says that the book pays tribute to William Steig’s CDB! (note to self: Make sure library system has enough copies of said title). Then, by way of explanation it goes on to say, “…cre8ors Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld have wri10 and illustr8ed this s2pendous book that is 1derful 4 readers in kindergar10 and up.” Get it? Got it? Gr8.
You wouldn’t think there’d be a lot of call for road trip related books in the NYPL system, but you would be underestimating the average New Yorker’s overwhelming desire to get as far from this little island as possible. So I know we’ll have plenty of requests for Maria van Lieshout’s Backseat A-B-See when it comes out. A combination alphabet and street sign book, this will be the perfect thing to hand to those parents who, until now, have only had Tana Hoban to turn to when the wanted street si
Hang-wringing complete. It’s time for the quarterly look at upcoming releases I’m calling 10 to Note.
What follows are the 10 titles set to hit shelves in March, April, and May that had me most saying “Yeah, boiiiii!” (or something along those lines). Not a guarantee of quality, but a subjective list of books that struck my fancy as a K-6th grade elementary school librarian.
Middle Grade Fiction
The Trouble with Chickens by Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Kevin Cornell
Mar. 1, 2011 | Balzer + Bray | Grades 2-5
Diary of a Worm and Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type have made Doreen Cronin a well known figure in children’s lit. With The Trouble with Chickens, Cronin tries something she has never done – a middle grade novel. A mystery about a search-and-rescue dog (J.J. Tully) pulled out of retirement to crack a case of missing chicks, laughs are likely. And the “A J.J. Tully Mystery” tag on the front ensures more adventures to come. I’m anxious to see how this one turns out.
Invisible Inkling by Emily Jenkins; illustrated by Harry Bliss
Apr. 26, 2011 | Balzer + Bray | Grades 2-4
And hey, speaking of Diary of a Worm, the illustrator of that book, Harry Bliss, is handling the artwork for Invisible Inkling, written by Emily Jenkins. I love the premise of a boy with an invisible (I repeat: invisible – not imaginary) friend. When I hear the phrase “in the vein of Clementine”, my ears perk up, and that what the publisher is touting this middle grade title as.
Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider
May 2, 2011 | Clarion | Grades 2-4
No matter how many funny books come out, there will always be a clamoring mass of young readers ready for one more. This story about the lengths a father goes to to get his son to try new foods looks promising on the comedy front. A book that may speak to the scores of, ahem, selective eaters out there.
Nonfiction Picture Books
Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss; illustrated by John Hendrix
Mar. 1, 2011 | Abrams | Grades 2-4
Have you heard of Sarah Edmonds? This woman who disguised herself as a man to fight in the civil war isn’t a household name, especially with kids. This picture book biography by Marissa Moss and John Hendrix should help bring Edmonds’ story to younger readers. Is it okay for me to have favorites? I’m not sure how that works since I review books and all. Alright, I’m just gonna say it – I’m a big John Hendrix fan. Big. Fan. If you know his work from When Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek or the more recent
0 Comments on 10 to Note: Spring Preview 2011 as of 1/1/1900
It’s nice when you can imagine how a book’s going to be used. Author Andrea Menotti also happens to be a Senior Editor at Chronicle Books (whatta coincidence!). Her goal here was to give the book the barest outline of a skeleton of a plot on which to hang the art and those images of copious delicious colorful sugar bombs that appear on every page. The ending, I’ll tell you right now, relies on the shock of the number rather than the interaction between the two kids. Basically the dare at the end of the book that one number or another is “too many” is finally accepted. So there you go. When you first open it up you come to a two-page spread where Emma is being offered ten jellybeans. At this point a certain strain of child is going to insist on counting those beans, just to make sure the author and illustrator got it right. They’ll probably be the same kids that count the twenty an
(Incidentally, I didn’t write the City, Baby! books, just illustrated them….but hey, I’m willing to write up a draft of the Vegas one, for sure!)
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I’m thinking a book about “How Many Brussels Sprouts” would simply not have the same appeal. Numbers rock!
This sounds a lot like A Million Dots by Andrew Clements, although to be honest, I can’t be sure as I have not read it.
Good point. The Clements book tends to go the How Much is a Million? route by mentioning stats (like “There are 525,600 minutes from one birthday to the next one”) which is fine but I like the sheer incremental increase of this book. They don’t dwell on abstract concepts but actually show the dots increasing. I totally should have recommended the Clements as a similar read, though. Good catch!
[...] how it can be difficult to find books that get kids excited about integers in her book review, How Many Jelly Beans? by Andrea Menotti. Make sure you check out How May Jelly Beans? and add Zero to that [...]