Thinking to outwit the crows, Roy brings his wife along with him and stays in the shed while she returns to the house, but the guard crow counts two going in and one coming out. Again and again Roy tries, each time adding an extra person until finally he succeeds. The illustrations help in making the storyline easy to follow and also provide extra details to count on each page. Simple, bright illustrations make it easy to distinguish like items and count everything named in the text. Ma has made a dozen cookies for Victoria and Sam to share, but before they can start eating, the doorbell rings and two friends enter.
Portions diminish with each new set of friends at the door until it s down to one cookie per person.
Then the doorbell rings again, but this time Grandma enters with a whole new tray of cookies. By the time they eventually arrive at the picnic site, they find only empty plates. With five rows of five, however, he is finally included. Young readers will find it tempting to extend this concept by finding endless examples from their daily lives. The relationship between a single thing and its parts however they may be defined forms the basis for this simple book, which begins There may be a million stars, but there is only one sky.