A Remainder of One
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Overview
When the queen of her bugs demands that her army march in even lines, Private Joe divides the marchers into more and more lines so that he will not be left out of the parade.
When the queen of the bugs demands that her army march in even lines, Private Joe divides the marchers into more and more lines so that he will not be left out of the parade.
Synopsis
When the queen of her bugs demands that her army march in even lines, Private Joe divides the marchers into more and more lines so that he will not be left out of the parade.
Publishers Weekly
As they did in One Hundred Hungry Ants, Pinczes and MacKain apply numerical division to a practical problem-and explain it in an entertaining, visually emphatic way. Keeping to the insect theme, Pinczes introduces the ``25th Army Corps,'' a regiment of 25 beetles on parade. Their blue bug queen ``likes things tidy,'' and when the bugs march two by two, she notices that one bug brings up the rear. The unfortunate Joe has to stand aside rather than be a ``remainder''; on the days that follow, Joe tries dividing the squadron into symmetrical rows of three, then four and, finally, five, when he is at last accommodated. Rather than endorse conformity, this rhyming tale focuses on Joe's search for a solution. And lest squadron-like precision trouble readers, each big-eyed ``bug-soldier'' has a unique patterned shell. MacKain even ensures that the same beetle characters-one with a pointy nose, two wearing glasses, etc.-appear in every spread, allowing readers to play spot-the-bug. Rendered in dusty blues and pasture-green with warm yellow, red and pink accents, her linocut-style art vibrates with energy. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
As they did in One Hundred Hungry Ants, Pinczes and MacKain apply numerical division to a practical problem-and explain it in an entertaining, visually emphatic way. Keeping to the insect theme, Pinczes introduces the ``25th Army Corps,'' a regiment of 25 beetles on parade. Their blue bug queen ``likes things tidy,'' and when the bugs march two by two, she notices that one bug brings up the rear. The unfortunate Joe has to stand aside rather than be a ``remainder''; on the days that follow, Joe tries dividing the squadron into symmetrical rows of three, then four and, finally, five, when he is at last accommodated. Rather than endorse conformity, this rhyming tale focuses on Joe's search for a solution. And lest squadron-like precision trouble readers, each big-eyed ``bug-soldier'' has a unique patterned shell. MacKain even ensures that the same beetle characters-one with a pointy nose, two wearing glasses, etc.-appear in every spread, allowing readers to play spot-the-bug. Rendered in dusty blues and pasture-green with warm yellow, red and pink accents, her linocut-style art vibrates with energy. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)Children's Literature
A Bug Army parade seems like the right thing to do on a very hot day in this story that sets out to explain the math concept of a remainder in division. The queen bug is displeased when her army of twenty-five bugs marches by in two columns of twelve bugs each because that leaves a remainder of one. The remainder bug, Joe, is also distressed by his lack of a partner. So he sets out to arrange the Bug Army into rows and columns in such a way that he is no longer a remainder. The book is set in rhyme, which keeps the story flowing. The artwork is colorful and suggestive of whimsical woodcuts on each page. The book's rhyme and illustrations would appeal to a young child, but the math concepts are not appropriate for the same aged child. The illustrations are fun but not clear enough to aid the student old enough to be learning the concept of remainder in division. 2002 (orig. 1995), Houghton Mifflin Co, Ages 3 to 8.— Ben Ingel