Two Is a Team

by Lorraine Beim, Jerrold Beim, Ernest Crichlow (Illustrator)

After disagreement in building a coaster, a black boy and his white playmate learn the value of working together on a project. Original copyright 1945 by Lorraine and Jerrold Beim, renewed in 1973 by Andrew L. Beim.

61 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1945

Reviews

[Samantha Hagler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great story about teamwork! Two young boys, Ted and Paul were best friends and decided to make a coaster one day. While making the coaster, they got into an argument because they each wanted to build it their own way. They ended up building separate coasters and then racing them down a hill to see who built the faster one. During this race they ran into a few different people who became angry and ended up breaking both of their coasters. They finally decided to work as a team and get a job as delivery boys to pay the people back that they ran into.

This book can teach the importance of teamwork and how fighting can lead you no where. Teamwork and friendship is important for elementary school students and this book could go well with this specific lesson. It could also be used to teach how to use dialect within stories.

[Kim Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two is a Team is a very early picture book that details a friendship--and conflict--between two little boys as they work on a project together. One is black, one white. Published in 1945 by Lorraine and Jerrold Beim, it predates a celebrated May Justus book about segregation, New Boy in School. It may seem this is an old subject, already dealt with, but it is always useful to talk about teamwork with kids. I got this book from my local library, and it is also available from used-book sellers.

[Jeani · Rating 3 out of 5]

They're boys who are friends and are figuring things out. It's good.

*Disappointed that the book description makes note of the skin color of the boys, since the book itself does not.