We Are One: How the World Adds Up

We Are One is not your average concept book about numbers and counting. The opening double-page spread introduces Aristotelian ideas with brief, poetic precision: “One can be one thing all on its own – one star, one stream, one stick, one stone. But those on their toes, those using their smarts, know one can be more than the sum of its parts.” The animation-like illustrations capture a round-faced child with pin-prick eyes, in a yellow outfit with matching conical-shaped hat, watching the glowing embers from a campfire on a starry evening, while a yellow border runs along the bottom of the pages, offering more context and explanation. Detailed and conversational, the footnotes encourage reflection and active participation: “Just think: Many single sticks add up to one pile of sticks, but they can also be something more, like a bird’s nest, a beaver dam, or a campfire … What could many stones make?”

From one to ten, the text and illustrations explore the notion of being one part of a whole; for instance, one sandwich needs two slices of bread; three lines make up a haiku poem; four points are on a compass; five acts are in a Shakespeare play; six sides form a snowflake; seven colors paint a rainbow; eight sides make an octagon, nine innings make up a professional baseball game; and ten decades chart a century.

An intricate sense of balance and connection is also found throughout Linda Yan’s digital illustrations. The cinematic scenes build upon one another. In the corner of one page, the star child watches two scurrying mice carrying a sandwich head towards a hole in the wall. The facing page shows her peeking through the hole and witnessing a mouse marriage. Onlooking rodents dab tears of joy from their eyes, and the peanut butter and jelly sandwich makes for a tasty wedding treat to be enjoyed by all. The following double-page spread shows the youngster writing a haiku and putting it in an envelope, (addressed to “You”, with the return address the shape of a star), and sliding it into the mouse hole.

Early years math concepts, such as part/whole relationships, fractions and addition, come into clear focus, as well as lovely messages of human connection and cooperation: “You are one person but also one part of a family, a team, the world’s beating heart.” Extensive endnotes provide a list of website resources (including citations for a short YouTube film about Carl Sagan as a boy) and a countdown of quirky trivia about “other things that come in groups” (like ten limbs on a squid).

With its thought-provoking mathematical and philosophical components, We Are One adds up to be an outstanding picture book that launches a hundred discussions.