One Tractor

I Like to Read

by Alexandra Siy, Jacqueline Rogers (Illustrator)

In his own backyard a toddler imagines and counts vehicles and machines, from 1 tractor to 10 bicycles. Pirates sail in on 3 floating boats; 5 big trucks are ready to pull; 6 city buses are Stopping, going all day long. He joins in the action, sitting in a basket hoisted by 4 cranes, helping firemen in 7 fire truckshosing red hot flames away from a woeful dragon. A few pictures may be too cluttered for thepreschoolers to grasp at first (its hard to count the 10 bicycles that are locked closely together in the rack). But with its simple rhyme and nicely detailed pages, watercolor spreads, the book does give children an apportunity to recognize the kind of imaginative play they engage in every dayas well as join in the counting action that hapens on the pages.

Genres: Picture Books, Counting, Transport, Number, Childrens, Pirates, Storytime

Hardcover

First published February 1, 2008

About the author

Alexandra Siy is a science writer for kids, merging STEM and art to make STEAM! Many of her titles use primary source scientific imagery to reveal both outer space and the microscopic, inviting young readers to enter worlds that can only be visited using science and technology. Worlds where spiders are superheroes, insects are much more than bugly, a simple sneeze is a micro-second adventure through the body, and the interstellar age is now. Alexandra is also a photographer and the creator of instastem.com, a STEM inspired photography workshop that gets kids reading writing, and creating their own science-as-art photographs. As a visiting author, she travels to schools and libraries nationwide, sharing her passion for science, books, and photography. She's also worked as a teacher in diverse communities, including Alaska and Colorado. Alexandra lives in New York State on her 73-acre sustainable family forest with her teenage son and their cat.

Reviews

[Mrs Mommy Booknerd http://mrsmommybooknerd.blogspot.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book that engages both the imagination and the concept of counting up. I love the illustrations because they really capture the boyhood joy of playing outside with toys. It captures how the imagination takes over and how fun adventures take place one-by-one. It was, for me, a nostalgic look back to when my boys were young and spent hours outside with their favorite toys creating grand adventures. A delight!

[Julia McMenamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This counting book was fun. On each page the illustrations allowed for the children to count with the corresponding number. For example if the number was six, there were six city buses to count on that page. This book makes learning how to count fun and interactive for early learners.

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Storytime Themes: Numbers/Counting, Transportation, Machines/Vehicles

[Kimberly]

1 sentence per page. Counting book up to 10. Some pages with full watercolor-type illustrations.

[Alexander The Triumphant · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book a little boy spots a tractor that is tinier than him out of grass. Everything in the book is smaller than the boy. In the second page the small plane flies low and the big plane flies high. Three boats float below. The boats are pirate boats, and the pirates are tinier than him and are being nice to him. Four cranes above the town hoisted up easy down. And in a dump truck they have pirates, and the pirates all go falling out of it. And the yellow one is not even filled, and so the little boy gets sand and fills it when the man is sleeping. In buses, four are right and four one is wrong. Four fire truck hoses put out the flames of a dragon. The little boy waters it, and the pirate is sitting on a wing and pouring water. -by Alexander

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic Plot: A little boy counts his toys in his dreams.

This was a very imaginative counting book. The art was done in beautiful watercolors that were full of lots of detail-very good for discussing with little ones. This one was another of my son's completely random library grabs, and he's asked for re-readings, so it has something going for it there. I kicked it up a whole star based on the art alone, because the text isn't anything terribly special. The ending of the book is good, but I don't know that a small child just learning to count would really "get" that the whole thing was just a dream. Maybe I'm not giving them enough credit, but that's what I see. My son liked it, and that's all that really matters to me.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first didn't see this book for what it was (I sometimes read too fast and don't look at the pictures, silly me!) but the more I looked the more I liked it. The lines are kind of strange but the pictures are really fun and the "story" it tells about children's imaginations and how important their play is to them. I can't quite figure out what they were thinking with the boy on the cover; he is really cute throughout the book but the cover is a strange angle and he looks funny.

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is more than just a counting book, more than just a "things that go" book, and more than just a book about playing. It is a book about all of these and more. It's a book about imagination, fun, and little bitty pirates who have adventures on every page. In fact, the illustrations of this book are chock full of details for little eyes and fingers to find, including a mouse having the time of his life. Fantastic!

[Kimber Tate]

Especially useful for boys, the book counts using a variety of vehicles from "big trucks" to bulldozers.

Ways to Use With Children: Children can bring in up to 10 of their favorite small objects and we can use them to create our own version of the text, first aloud and then in drawings and numbers.

Counting Book

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a read aloud book at the end of play group. I'll be honest that I didn't hear past 6, but what I heard I liked. I hadn't yet seen a counting book that focused on a boy's toys, vehicles from what I heard and saw. I can see strong appeal for this book for many little boys, and girls, who love trucks.

[Alanna Burris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great counting book for children who love the outdoors and vehicle/ machines. The book have a great story of how the boy helps get things running again so they can get on their way. I like how the number is always represented in the corner. The water color illustrations are very beautiful as well.

[Mikayla Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This uses trucks, tractors, and other vehicles to help with counting. It goes through each number up to ten. There is a little boy who is playing with these toys.

This book is cute. The illustrations are nice and I really like the poem type writing.

This book would be great for little boys to help with counting.

[Joanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite math-children's book but it is what it is... A counting book. Boys will enjoy it and the teacher can provide several toy cars for students to manipulate with in conjunction to counting with this book; builds one-to-one correspondence.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have someone in your life that likes trucks, tractors, etc. This is a great book. The watercolors are wonderful. We sit and look at each page, plus read the great fun text. Highly recommend.

[Sarah Kramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

trucks, transportation

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

very enjoyable view from a boy's vision of playing outside with tractors, boats, etc. counting book, too.

[Kathrine Rogers]

Counting Week

[Aberdeen Children's · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very cute picture book for a pre-school child, especially a boy. It helps counting through 10 with wonderful illustrations of planes, trucks, tractors, boats, buses, bikes, etc.

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great illustrations but the text is lacking something. Seems like the author was simply trying to find rhymes...

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used during my two-year old storyhour class. The kids liked all the toys but didn't really get the boy's mice friends.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A boy has an adventure counting from 1 to 10. In the end you find out that he has been dreaming about the toys he is surrounded by.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and whimsical, the pictures are great, the character relatable, and story imaginative and enjoyable. On top of all that goodness it's a counting book! Yay!

[Leona · Rating 3 out of 5]

little boy enjoys imagining adventures while playing with all his trucks.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little boy imagines tiny little pirates come to him by boat help him build a road and more transportation items pass on the pages. Every page one more.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this counting book full of "boy stuff". My little boy loved it too! Beautiful illustrations!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect toddler book. Ages 1-3.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's hiding in the grass in the backyard? Pirates and playthings abound. A fun book about imagination and counting fun. Big water color illustrations.