The Story of AND: The Little Word That Changed the World

by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, Joani Keller Rothenberg (Illustrator), Carrie Newcomer (Composer)

Overview

Poor and: the word everyone takes for granted. So tiny, so common, so easily overlooked. Yet if it weren't for and, so much would fall apart! Who knew such a little word could make such a big difference?

When an array of opinionated shapes just can't find common ground, AND comes to the rescue. AND is the link that helps each pair of shapes overcome their differences, teaming up to create something entirely new. Bouncy rhyming text and colorful paintings come together in a fable that will prompt children to look for the unexpected connections all around them. Singer/songwriter Carrie Newcomer has recorded an original song based on the story, available to readers as a bonus download at www.flyawaybooks.com/resources.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781947888050
Publisher:	Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date:	04/23/2019
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	550,490
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Sandy Eisenberg Sasso is the author of many popular books for children and adults, the Director of Religion, Spirituality and the Arts Initiative at Indiana University–Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) Arts and Humanities Institute, and Rabbi Emerita of Congregation Beth-El Zedeck. Her children's books include The Story of AND, When God Gave Us Words, and, co-written with Amy-Jill Levine, A Very Big Problem, Who Is My Neighbor?, The Marvelous Mustard Seed, and Who Counts? For more information, visit www.allaboutand.com.

Joani Keller Rothenberg is a muralist, art therapist, and illustrator. She has been named artist-in-residence for academic, faith-based, and arts institutions. For more information, visit www.artbyjoani.squarespace.com.

Carrie Newcomer is an award-winning singer and songwriter known for her solo recordings and her collaborations with other creative people, including previous work with Sandy Eisenberg Sasso. She travels and performs worldwide in support of cultural and humanitarian causes. For more information, visit www.carrienewcomer.com.

Editorial Reviews

"The Story of AND will prove to be a unique and enduringly popular addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections." —Midwest Book Review

Midwest Book Review

"An encouraging fable in which dissimilar shapes learn what they can create together." —Spirituality & Practice

Spirituality & Practice

The Story of AND will prove to be a unique and enduringly popular addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections.” —Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

06/21/2019

PreS-Gr 1- A little girl who loves to count the instances of the word AND in everything she reads is ridiculed by the adults around her until she reads aloud a particularly convincing story about the word. The story she reads is "The Story of AND," an original song by Carrie Newcomer. In each verse and scenario, the word AND entreats two things to come together and build something that is greater than their disparate parts. A cranky triangle and square become a house and then a neighborhood, an octagon and cylinder create a table. The story then returns to the young girl holding hands with her family and AND. The song is available for free download from the Flyaway Books website and follows the text of the story nearly word for word, set to lovely acoustic guitar, piano, and vocals. In the book, these verses are translated into bright, colorful, and sometimes incredibly literal illustrations. Ultimately the simple lyrics are unable to convey such an abstract concept, and the inclusion of shapes as characters only confuses things further. Some verses lend themselves more easily to the metaphor of unity. It is easy, say, to draw a line from a line and oval forming a music note that in turn is part of a melody. But the meaning is lost in a verse that describes rectangles and triangles forming seesaws and then many seesaws making a playground. VERDICT The message of recognizing our differences and working together is a noble and excellent concept for a book, but unfortunately this story tries to do too much and misses its mark. Purchase only where music/book combinations are particularly popular.-Laken Hottle, Providence Community Library, RI

School Library Journal

2019-01-28

A little girl counts how many times the word "and" appears in her books and demonstrates to the adults in her life how important that little word can be.

She narrates supposedly old tales about shapes. A circle is insulted by a line until the cheerful uppercase AND, referred to as female, comes along "so simple and sure" and announces ‘Yes, we can!" and joins their hands (not pictured in the illustrations), and voilà, they form a balloon. A rectangle insults a triangle, bringing the chirpy AND again, joining them to make a seesaw. A rectangle and a square are joined to make a house, an oval and a line form musical notes, and a cylinder and an octagon form a table for people to gather in community. The rhyming tale is disjointed, with a particularly preachy conclusion, and the subtitle is quite misleading. Rothenberg's very bright cartoons enhance the tale, with the depiction of AND varied and charming, especially when seen from a distance. But the illustrations have their own deficiencies. The rectangle that meets the triangle is extremely elongated and appears to be nearly identical to the rather wide line that joins with the oval. There is a link to download a song based on the tale. The child who begins it all appears white; some of the adults in her life are people of color.

A well-intentioned homily in which tolerance and kindness overcome bullying, but the tone is cloying and the message feels forced. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews