One is Canada by Maxine Trottier

I just finished reading One is Canada to Little One.  I did not particularly enjoying reading the book but Little One was quite smitten by the illustrations.

The book was illustrated by Bill Slavin and we were part way in the book when Little One exclaimed "He is a good drawer!  Who drew the pictures?"  She is 4, remember, and I was a bit shocked with this exclamation.  I hadn't noticed the pictures at all.  I turned to the front of the book and told her the illustrators name and continued reading the book, but I kept getting interrupted with her exclamations about how great the pictures were.  At one point she exclaimed, "I have to tell him he's a good drawer."  :)  I think I'm going to have to look for more books illustrated by Bill Slavin.

Maxine Trottier, though not born a Canadian, became a Canadian citizen in 1974.  She lives in my home province, Newfoundland and Labrador.  I skimmed a list of her books and I will be making a point of checking out more of them.

This book caught my eye during our recent library visit because it is a Canadian book and it is a book about numbers.  I've been making a conscious effort to expose Little One to numbers and math concepts lately because it's something I haven't really put much effort into so far.  As I said earlier, however, I did not enjoying reading the book.  After reading it I read on the inside flap of the dust cover on the book that it is "a rhythmical read-aloud".  It may just be me, but I didn't find it rhythmical at all. Having said that, however, I do think I will go back to this book again.  There is a lot of history and geography wrapped up in this picture book.  It would make a great jumping off point for further learning.

This book counts towards the following reading challenges:  Canadian Authors Challenge, Newfoundland Authors, and Young Readers Challenge