Banana for Two

by Ellen Mayer, Ying-Hwa Hu (Illustrations)

Mama, her toddler, and two stuffed bunnies turn an outing to the grocery store into a fun opportunity to talk, laugh, and learn a little math along the way. Baby is excited to choose one box of favorite cereal, hold two containers of yogurt, and find one banana. As they fill their cart with items in quantities of one and two, Mama lets her baby hold each item while connecting the familiar idea of known body parts such as one hand and two feet to concepts of one and two. In this engaging, concrete way, toddlers begin understanding simple math principles. In the checkout lane, Baby giggles as one bunny goes for a ride. Back home Mama prepares a snack. How will she share one banana between the two of them? As she cuts the banana in half, her child proudly points out and recognizes the two pieces of their snack, showing an understanding of the notion of two.

Through this warm, joyful story, part of the Small Talk Books® series, parents and caregivers can learn how to model talk and actions that help children develop a stronger understanding of number and how math is part of our lives.


This material is based upon work supported in part by TERC under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

18 pages, Board Book

Published May 1, 2020

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book for my toddler grandson, and it immediately became one of his faves. Pointing to the banana on each page, he said "nana"and sometimes "eh-wo" for "yellow." When we finished reading it, he made the sign language gesture for "more." I can see why he likes it, as the simple, sweet story deals with a familiar activity, grocery shopping, and the pictures are warm and cheerful. I suspect that as my grandson gets older, the math concepts gently embedded in the story will make it even more meaningful to him.

[LA · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this children’s book is excellent, using everyday situations to teach your young children mathematical concepts. In the Note for Parents, et al there is a list of helpful hints of how to apply this concept with toddlers.
The illustrations are beautifully done. The drawings are colourful and match the text well. It would be easy to sit with a toddler and count one or two items from the text matching it in the picture.
When it comes to the text of the story, it is mostly dialogue without any description. It is mostly the mother talking to the child and picking up one or two items in the grocery store. It seems like a dream trip to the grocery store as the child complies happily and doesn’t reach for more items to drop into the cart. When mother makes it to the checkout line, there are more items in the cart than what is included in her dialogue with the child (it’s obvious she picked them out). I checked to see if I had missed pages because those items hadn’t been mentioned before. There is only one or two of each grocery item included in her cart.
As for engaging a toddler to listen to the story, the child would respond more to how the dialogue is read rather than the actual story itself.
Again, the premise of teaching toddlers math is an excellent idea however, I found that the text was unrealistic. When grocery shopping for a family more than one or two single items are usually bought (i.e. more than one banana, or two carrots) during that trip – just imagine how many times Mommy would have to return to the store to get a banana for everyone!
I think more could be done with subtext including Mommy and Baby walking down the aisle to put one box of this, two cans of that, etc. instead of pure dialogue.
I gave this review three stars for the fabulous illustrations, and excellent concept.
I received an electronic preview copy at Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

[Storywraps · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful book brings a refreshing and inspiring way to incorporate math into every day life. It focuses on learning the numbers one and two in a very fun and natural way.

A loving mother takes her child and his twin toy cuddle-bunnies on a grocery shopping adventure. She reinforces the numbers one and two numerous times in their happy dialogue as they purchase: a roll of paper (one roll), his favourite cereal ( one box), a yummy yogurt which he loves ( two containers one for each hand and two excited feet is on tap) and a banana for snack time (one to share, of course). At the check out counter she goes over all her purchases with her little one admist happy chatter and engagement by both.

Once home the two hungry shoppers split the banana in two ... one piece for her, and one piece for him. The it's yummy time, a wonderful, healthy reward for their busy math-induced morning.

This wonderful, fun book takes on an every day activity and turns it into an educational opportunity. The illustrations are colourful, expressive and ooze with pure joy. They certainly enhance the math concepts that are woven throughout the story.

This would be a perfect gift to give to a young mother/. It would inspire her to teach her little one math concepts in a fun and natural way. I highly recommend this book.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Banana for Two (that also exists in a spanish version) is a tender, joyful book to teach math to your toddler.

This is a very simple book with little text, whose greater value comes from the beautiful and colorful illustrations. The images convey the tenderness between mother and child and the joy in their interactions. The activity of buying groceries is usually familiar and exciting for little kids. A good context to introduce some easy lessons in a playful way.

Their small talks revolve around numbers: just one and two. It introduces math concepts in the child's daily life. A nice book for toddlers who will devour the bright illustrations as they learn a little math.

This book is part of the Small Talk Books® series, which helps parents and caregivers to learn how to talk and act in a way that helps children develop a stronger understanding of number and how math is part of our lives. This material is based upon work supported in part by TERC under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a board picture book that the publishers intended for ages 0-2. A little book to teach young ones about the number 1 and 2 from the everyday experience of being at the groceries. It follows a mom and a toddler shopping and going home with the purchased food. I love the illustrations of this book, the illustrator Ying-Hwa Hu has done a good job. My daughters appreciated it. Both the author Ellen Mayer and the illustrator have collaborated on other board books that feature everyday teachable experiences that feature characters of different ethnic background which I thought was pretty neat. This particular book features a Hispanic mother and her toddler; previous works have included an Asian American family and an African American family. Yet the experience in this book is relatable for everyone of any background.

NOTE: This book was provided to me free by Star Bright Books and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

[Richelle Zirkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice title that places emphasis on teaching beginning math concepts in the context of shopping. The pictures are cute. For me, everything about it is just okay. I do agree with the teaching philosophy though and have incorporated this method with my own children since they were born. We frequently "talk" about conceptual things in reference to everyday activities as our way to explore things like sounds, colors, etc in addition to math.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very basic concept book - good for family sharing!

[Charity Bartley Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this! It is a cute story with wonderful pictures. I relate to the story and it is a wonderful teaching tool as well as an inspirational book.

[Zelie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received the ARC from NetGalley.

It's an interesting book, that talks about Math. It helps parents teaching Math to their kids, in a fun yet simple way.

[Grace Luo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a good book to introduce math. It’s daily life and it’s simple. My son was 2. It’s one of his favorite book. It helps us start putting numbers to meaning and start to learn counting.

[Erin Stuhlsatz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book, I liked how it gave examples of how you can talk to your baby in the grocery store.

[Lauren]

Vietnamese/English version

[EMD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mama and Mommy especially appreciated the note for parents at the beginning that gave some helpful info/tips about teaching toddlers about counting and number sense!

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this cute board book, babies learn the math concept of one and two with mama and her baby as they go grocery shopping and get different items around the store.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the Small Talk books which model conversation with babies and toddlers for language development.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mother and child are in the supermarket buying their groceries. As they find what they need the mother indicates if it is 1 or 2. Her child joins in and sometimes asks for 'more' but that depends if they need more.

The mathematical concepts dealt with in the book includes basic counting (1, 2) which is what most kids start with once speech kicks in. This book goes a step further by telling and showing what 1 is, what 2 is - in educational settings we call this 1-on-1 correspondence - this is where a child understands what 1 actually is - 1 banana.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free copy.

[Jess M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was super short. I liked the idea of a mom and baby going grocery shopping and counting but I felt like they could have included more counting, maybe to ten. The pictures were cute though.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like when the front of a book has a “note for parents”. I think these need to be at the end. The story is simple. Use everyday occurrences like grocery shopping to start teaching your kids math. But you can tell that at the end, after you have given an example.

[Jo Linsdell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. I loved the illustrations in the book. A simple story that is good for teaching very young children about the numbers 1 and 2. Would also be good for discussing shopping at a grocery store, and sharing.

[Karen Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a speech language pathologist, I love that Banana for Two
by Ellen Mayer is written with the language of math within it’s text. It’s an interesting book, that talks about fractions, adding and having number sense. It helps parents teach Math to their young children, in a fun and very simple way.

The story is simple. A mother takes her child toy cuddle-bunnies on a grocery shopping adventure. Mommy reinforces the numbers one and two numerous times in their conversation as they purchase: a roll of paper (one roll), his favorite cereal ( one box), a yummy yogurt which he loves ( two containers one for each hand ) and a banana for snack time (one to share). At the check out Mommy goes over their purchases with her child as they happily chat about the items. Once home, mom and child split the banana in two ... one piece for her, and one piece for him. It’s really a sweet little book with great illustrations. A solid four stars!

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for a pre-publication ebook in exchange for an honest review.