One Bean

by Anne Rockwell

What happens when you plant just one little bean? A fundamental childhood experiment charmingly unfolds in this first science book about planting and observation. A perfect balance of simple narration and cheerful, thoughtful three-dimensional paper sculptures just right for the very young, One Bean carefully and joyfully takes the young observer step-by-step through a plant's growth cycle, from planting the bean in a paper cup to the tasty results. Created with respect to the developmental needs of the youngest learner, here's a concept book that tips its hat to children's never-ending curiosity about the world around them.

Genres: Picture Books, Science, Childrens, Plants, Nature, Gardening

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Shakita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for the classroom. It's easy to read and follow along with. This book is great for k-2 when they plant a bean. The students can find more activities to do in the back of the book and they can find out more information about beans. I really liked the activity where students bring in seeds from home or fruit they ate maybe from the cafeteria; the children can connect the lesson to their own personal life which is important.

[Selena Sheehy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: One Bean
Author: Anne Rockwell
Illustrator: Megan Halsey
Genre:
Theme(s): Science, Life, Growth
Opening line/sentence: “I had one bean. It was dry and smooth and hard.”
Brief Book Summary: The story discusses the life of a bean and how it grows. It is being grown by two young siblings and it shows the excitement the children have as the bean goes through it stages. It also discusses the needs of a seed to grow like soil, water, and sunlight.
Response to Two Professional Reviews (3-4 sentences in your own words):
Tell Me Framework (4 sentences in your own words):
Like(s): I loved the story of the bean’s growth and how it affected the children.
Dislike(s): I disliked some of the words used in the story and the length of the statements.
Patterns(s): The story is told through the life cycle.
Puzzle(s): Why did the story just end with eating beans and not redo the cycle?
Consideration of Instructional Application (3-4 sentences in your own words):
With the information that is being discussed throughout the story, it was expressed well through excitement. It is truly expresses how a young child would feel when growing their own plant and going through its stages. The story told the life cycle well while also relating to personal feelings.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

One Bean, by Anne Rockwell was one of my favorite sciend books for the preschool children I taught. I introduced growing seeds in the classroom by reading this book and left it beside our plantings so the students could use it as a reference as the bean grows. This introduced the idea of a book being a reference (a new vocabulary word for many of the children).

I kept One Bean in my science center as a reference science book in my classroom.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steps to growing beans from a bean.....

Maybe good to read with Sprout, Seed, Sprout! because of the emphasis in that book on patience and how long things take.

Would work well with a Charlotte Mason approach to nature study.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

Packed with information on the life cycle of a bean, my little girls loved this book. Illustrations were lovely it was simple and went well with our seed nature study. It has inspired my girls to grow their own which we will be getting started on soon.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tells the story of growing a lima bean plant (a story in which everything works like it should, unlike at least half the time that children grow lima beans).

[Kiyoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early Reader that takes the steps from seed to harvest and back again. We liked it!

[Patrice]

BookTree
S&E really liked

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book would be a little simple for Charlotte, but she LOVED it. She's very interested in gardening and plants, and this book's step by step story of taking a dried bean to a bean plant was just her speed. We are actually working on planting beans now, because of this book. I asked Charlotte if she liked it or really liked it, and she said she LOVED it.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did really like this book as I read it out loud to my 3 year old granddaughter. She enjoyed it as well talking about the pictures and what was happening. This is a perfect book to buy or check out around Spring time to help teach children how to plant a 'garden' you can even to what the children are doing.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple, very child-friendly book about a child who plants a bean and watches it grow. After awhile, the child is able to pick bean pods off his plant and enjoy the brand new beans he grew all by himself!

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

one beans journey from seed to seed. A little boy and his sister chart in simple words and clear pictures the growth of a bean plant. Lots of words but they are simple and the pictures are clear. Any age group with the right group.

[Miss Kious · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grow class beans following the way the books did it.

[Heather Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

COMMON CORE, NONFICTION, NON-FICTION, PLANTS, GARDENS, GROWING, SCIENCE, GARDENING,

[Sarah Herrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple and interesting. Not my favorite non fiction kids' book this month, but it wasn't bad!

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simply written explanation of how a bean becomes a plant. Great non-fiction text to read-a-loud for spring.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice quick read. Great for an introduction to a lesson / activity where you'll be planting beans :)

[CFAITC]

This primary reader introduces children to the life cycle of the bean plant.