Only One - Hardcover

Marc Harshman has published several books for children.

PreSchool-Grade 1-An ersatz counting book that confuses rather than clarifies its concepts. It starts out with the statement, "There may be a million stars, but there is only one sky" and works its way down through 50,000 bees and only one hive, to 12 eggs making only one dozen, and then proceeding down to one. The number relationships are not consistent and so become obscured. In some cases, a collective noun is used, such as in 11 cows but only one herd; in another case an equivalent is offered, as in 10 cents make one dime; and in others, individual parts of a larger whole form the entry, e.g., 4 wheels but only one wagon. Garrison's unique illustrations are collographs, collages of various materials glued down on cardboard and then inked and printed on a press and washed with watercolor. The pictures have an antique, sepia look and are in keeping with the book's county fair theme carried out in the depictions of farm animals, merry-go-rounds, and mid-way games. This effort may have some merit for its art technique, but for coherent number concepts, don't count on it.
Judith Gloyer, Milwaukee Public Library
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