Cover Image: The Story of AND

The Story of AND

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Member Reviews

This book has a theme that working together is better. But, it shows it with various shapes and how they can form an entirely new object. It’s definitely a unique way to teach social skills.

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Beautiful illustrations accompany this sweet story about the power of friendship and allowing differences to make us stronger united together. Simple text that rhymes and flows well. A nice read for preschool story time with a shape or friendship theme.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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Not sure I like this story. The art is kind of blah and the story is blah too. I guess it does have a good message when you finally get to the end but I don't feel the need to share it with anyone.

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Unfortunately, I'm not sure this book will do well in publication. I think it could use a little more work in all aspects, Including the way you market it.

I couldn't set my mind on what the target age range would be for this book. The idea of using shapes as characters suggests that the book is intended as a read-aloud for younger children - but the rhyme is a bit contrived and needs a careful reader who can stop and think as he/she reads the text (and also...use of words like "trapezoids" would need to be explained to the youngest ones). And unfortunately the shapes are just not compelling characters - the illustrations just don't draw me in the way they should.

Aside from the rhyme being a bit rough, the story isn't clear! The major intention of the book has to be spelled out in the final pages. Oh! It's about diversity! I get it now...but you had to actually tell me this. The description indicated that the topic was strictly grammatical - all about the word "and." But that's not really the point.

Ultimately, I'm not sure who the market would be for this book. Maybe if it were marketed as a diversity message instead of a grammar book, I'd have been much less critical. Thank you for the advance copy and the opportunity to review this book. I hope these were constructive criticisms.

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A clever idea for a story about acceptance, togetherness, kindness, etc. The illustrations of what the shapes become is fun. I do think it will be a little tricky for kids to understand the concepts with the way they are presented, I can see a lot of explaining happening during a story time.

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I like the theme of togetherness, friendship, and inclusion in the book...I'm just not a big fan of how it's written. It's not exactly lyrical or "catchy". I can see possibly reading it to young kids needing SEL centered around the theme, but as a librarian who tells stories to young kids constantly, I don't see how this one would hold their attention as well as others written on the same subject.

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The Story:
There’s a little girl who loves to count the word AND. Despite everyone telling her not to bother, she doesn’t give up. This book then goes into a tale of how AND holds everything together. When various shapes begin to argue, AND tells the shapes that together they can be great.

Favourite Spread:
My favourite spread was when AND combined Line and Oval to create a crotchet. The musical stave was beautifully illustrated and this, coupled with the fact Carrie Newcomer has written an accompanying song for the story, just seemed to bring the project together.

The Verdict:
I had extremely high hopes for this book as I loved the concept. I also loved the inventiveness of the things AND creates by combining shapes. It has a lovely educational feel as well as a nice message that we are better when we work together. But despite the potential of the idea, the book didn’t quite deliver. There were one too many places where the rhythm and half-rhymes made me stumble over the sentences. However, when you read it along with the song by Carrie Newcomer it does work much better.

Picture Book Perfect Rating:
Three out of five stars (as a standalone book).
Four out of five stars (when listening to the song).

Accompanying song by Carrie Newcomer can be found here. https://www.flyawaybooks.com/resources

I am very grateful to the publisher for providing me with an advanced digital copy via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

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I received an electronic ARC from Flyaway Books through NetGalley.
No one understands why this young girl counts the number of time "and" is used in her books. They think it's a waste of time. She shares why "and" is such an important word.
She begins with connecting shapes to form various useful objects. She moves on from there to her point about making connections with each other and making the world a better place.
Brightly colored illustrations and expressive faces on the shapes support the text and draw the reader in to the story.
Simple rhyming text moves the reader forward through the book.

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This book was a bit confusing, it started out as a story about a little girl obsessed with the word AND and then she told a story within the story and ended up talking about being a family. My toddlers were not engaged with this book, and even when trying to point out the shapes encountered along the way they had trouble seeing each shape that was being talked about. Some examples showed how they worked together better than others. Overall, this book was not a hit in our house.

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This is a cute rhyming text, and would be a great addition in the math/geometry classroom. This book shows how basic two-dimensional shapes can be joined to create new items. Teachers could use this text to explore the characteristics of different shapes. It would also lend itself to creative activity by students putting shapes together to form other things. I believe the title, though, is a bit deceiving. An reader (or educator) might think that this is a book about the use of the word AND, when in fact it is how many things in the world are a combination of basic shapes. The beginning of the book, when the character counts the word "and" in stories, seems not to fit with the rest of the story. I believe the author worked hard on the rhyming scheme of the story, and did well on that, but I think the beginning needs a revamp to fit with the rest of the story.

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This book was fun and different! The illustrations were different than normal. The author used AND as a character. The illustrations as well as words, making the two shapes come together was great. My kids are 8 and 5 and liked guessing what the two shapes together were going to make. We loved the message of community and what we can be together. In the current political climate and world in general, it was a great message of working together and looking beyond the obvious of what one can be alone. The message focused on being better together. The below quote was very powerful:
“To create a world without a missing piece, all the different shapes make us complete. I am I, and you are you. This is really nothing new. But remember, it’s a fact: We are stronger back to back.”

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The Story of AND is a creative and sing-songy book that shares the power of working together. Everyone has something about them that makes them unique and when we combine these differences we can do wonderful things. This book does a great job illustrating that we are stronger when we join together and the artwork is engaging for young and old readers alike.

I read this with my 8 year old who loved the unique interpretation of this important message. I think this would be a wonderful book to read with any grade school aged children. Thank you to NetGalley and Flyaway Books for gifting me a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

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Sing-song ~ Sweet ~ Colorful
tl; dr: A playful look at the word AND.

The text is really well-done in this sweet picture book. It is a bit reminiscent of The Phantom Tollbooth, with whimsy and playfulness. The text would probably be best read out loud. The images are somewhat naive though charming in their own way.

3.5

Thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I loved this book! What a cool story with a great moral. I will definately be purchasing this for my library and sharing with students and teachers.

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