One Child, One Seed: A South African Counting Book

by Kathryn Cave, Gisele Wulfsohn (Photographer)

A counting book to widen the horizons, packed with information about the life and culture of South Africa.

"One child, one seed.
Two hands to plant the seed.
Three ways to help it grow."

Cultivating, sharing, preparing. Starting with a single seed in a child’s hand and leading right through to a warm, nourishing meal (with plenty for all), this colorful book offers up a satisfying story of the fruits of a communal effort.

So play a simple counting game. Watch a pumpkin grow. Follow young Nothando and discover the rhythms of her daily life in this vivid portrait of one child, one seed, and the South African village in which they both thrive.

Genres: Counting, Mathematics, Picture Books, Africa, Geography, Cultural, South Africa

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2002

About the author

Kathryn Cave is an award-winning British children's book author. She was awarded the very first international UNESCO prize for Children's and Young People's Literature in the Service of Tolerance for Something Else. The book was later made into a TV series by TV Loonland. A theatre company has adapted it as a children's production, and ran a UK tour in 2009.

Reviews

[Celia Buell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed One Child, One Seed: A South African Counting Book by Kathryn Cave to check whether it truly belonged in fiction, where it was shelved. My conclusion is that it definitely belongs in nonfiction.

One Child, One Seed details the story of Nothando, who plants a pumpkin seed. Aside from being a counting book, Primarily, this is a counting book, but every page also has a sidebar with facts about agriculture in South Africa, and about the country in general. However, there is also a story to Nothando's pumpkin planting journey. I really appreciate the way all these aspects combine, and I feel like this is definitely a good way to teach students about and have them connect to life in another country because the brain is engaged in different tasks on each page. Every page also depicts people, primarily children the same age as the intended audience, working hard and having fun. This is a great way to explore similarities and differences across cultures, and to help students appreciate that all people are the same in that they have hobbies and chores.

I feel like South Africa is a country that many people think of as mostly urbanized and industrialized, but books like this remind us that there's still a lot of agriculture and rural lifestyle as well.

I would recommend this for a preschool through first or second grade interest level, with some scaffolding needed for reading level. It would also be a good book for students to practice rereading or retelling a book while looking at the page (early reading skills).

[Celia Buell (semi hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

One Child, One Seed details the story of Nothando, who plants a pumpkin seed. Aside from being a counting book, Primarily, this is a counting book, but every page also has a sidebar with facts about agriculture in South Africa, and about the country in general. However, there is also a story to Nothando's pumpkin planting journey. I really appreciate the way all these aspects combine, and I feel like this is definitely a good way to teach students about and have them connect to life in another country because the brain is engaged in different tasks on each page. Every page also depicts people, primarily children the same age as the intended audience, working hard and having fun. This is a great way to explore similarities and differences across cultures, and to help students appreciate that all people are the same in that they have hobbies and chores.

Read my full review on my Goodreads account for children's books.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture books provides an opportunity to share with children another culture which shows our similarities. It also portrays industry, teamwork, patience, and sharing.

[Jenna Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to show cultural, geographical information alongside the growth of a pumpkin

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Citation: One Child, One Seed, by Kathryn Cave. (Henry Holt and Company, 2002). 32p. Counting Book.

Summary: This book follows the growth of a seed to a pumpkin to a family's dinner in South Africa.

Critique: (a.) The style of this book make it much more than a simple counting book from one to ten. Clear texts, photographs, and side panels of additional information make it appropriate for a wide audience.

(b.) Each page of the book is an introduction to life in South Africa, presented as a counting book. Pumpkin seeds are shown as visual representations of the number. These same seeds are shown being grown and tended in the fields. The text is split into three levels: one large sentence to state the main concept, a paragraph to fill in details, and additional text on each page to offer the reader further information about the culture. In this way, the book can be enjoyed at many levels of understanding. There is also a color pattern presented by the framing of the photographs and the graphic quilt squares that shadow the number on each page.

(c.)This style is present throughout the book as it builds up to the number ten and the pumpkin ripens. On pages ten and eleven, the number 4 shows “four creatures graze nearby.” The middle text explains the role of the family cowherd, as he watches to make sure the cows do not damage the crops. Further information that relates to all of the animals is provided in the additional text, connecting the small seeds to the family to the village.

Curriculum Connection: I would use this book with a range of elementary audiences. Young readers could count the seeds and read along with the main text. I would fill in the middle information to add depth for this group. I would also sequence the pumpkin’s growth with this group. Older readers would appreciate the last level of text and could use this book to gain information about the culture.

[Amber Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This number book would be appropriate for older elementary students because of the vocabulary. The book follows a South African girl, Nothando, as she plants a pumpkin seed. On each page there is more general information about South African culture and Nothando’s family. For instance, one page shows Nothando’s house and explains what the houses are made of while another page talks about the types of games the children play. This book traces the steps involved in caring for a pumpkin and then eventually using the pumpkin to make a traditional South African food called “isijingi.” The recipe of isijingi is included at the end of the book.

Activities
1. This activity would be an after reading activity to test the student’s comprehension of the book. I would have each student write down the steps of planting a pumpkin and taking care of it.
2. This activity would help students develop an understanding of multiculturalism as they make a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting South African culture with their own culture. This activity should be done together as a whole class. Examples of similarities are that each culture grows pumpkins in the summer, they use a spade to dig up the weeds, raise chicks and cows, and grow cabbage, spinach, beets, potatoes, beans, and corn. Differences in each culture is that in South Africa summer begins in November and in U.S. summer begins in June. In South Africa, the houses are made of wood, mud, and grass and in the U.S. they are made of brick and wood. In South Africa, vegetables grow all year round, which is not common in the U.S. In the book, Nothando walks to the store, but in the U.S. we drive to the grocery store

[Joanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! It's a counting book because it starts by "one child plants one seed in South Africa with two hands and there's three ways to help it grow.." etc. The book provides information about Nothando (the boy in the story) who plants a pumpkin seed and how his aunt prepares the pumpkin once its grown and ripe. I would probably read this book during social studies and around Halloween since its about a pumpkin. It's also good for science when learning about a plant cycle (seeds). In the back of the book it provides a map of Africa with some facts about where Nothando is from.

[LeAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This counting book works on many levels: 1 seed to plant, 2 hands patting it into the soil, 3 children to water and till, etc. Rows of seeds on the end papers provide counting practice. At the same time a story tells of working together to grow and prepare food that can be shared with many. The information on the community that appears in side bars on the right can be used with older children, but not missed by younger ones who just want to look at the pictures and show off their counting skills.

[Ricardo Contreras · Rating 5 out of 5]

One child, one seed: A South Africa Counting Book, uses numbers and food to get a message across. I have to admit I love when both are put together as an adult. As a child I might have liked it to. The book starts off with one boy and one seed. He is planting the seed during the beginning of summer in Africa so it will be ready in February. Using numbers the boos describes how everyone pitches in to help grow the pumpkin. In the end the pumpkin fed 9 people and there were no left overs.

Age group p-7, good information book

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book because it is real. It has photos of what I assume is a real community and it shows people who have hard work and few resources making the most of what they have and building community through sharing.

It is not a glamorous book. It is a hopeful book. You can only hope that the growing of the pumpkin will lead to more seeds harvested and more food for the community. It's a long slow process to get the small amount of food they are all so happy to share. There is a realistic showing that they also depend from ingredients bought from a shop.

It taught me something. :)

[Jelisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book was extremely cute and a must have for my classroom library. I think that it is great that cultural enrichment is being taught at the same time as counting skills. I personally believe both are of equal importance, being that we live in the diverse United States of America.

Things that can be taught from story:
-One to one correspondence
-rote counting
-social studies/south africa
-caring for plants/pumpkin
-african cultures

[Evelyn Saenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learn to count to 10, one-to-one correspondence and how to read the number words to ten.

Learn about a family in South Africa, what kind of clothes they wear, house they live in and what the landscape is like there.

Compare the lives of children living in South Africa with your child's life.

[Kristilin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love to expose children to other cultures. Shows what a simple pumpkin seed to us would mean to a family in South Africa.

[Evelyn Matias · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is beautiful, with real pictures and real culture from South Africa. While learning how to count that children are also able to learn about a culture that may be different to their own.

[D'metria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for teaching children to count to ten, in addition to teaching children about different cultures. This is also a good book for teaching science, nature, and planting seeds.

[Megan]

I think this book is fab but wish I could read on this website

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Counting and culture all in one book.