Author Celia Barker Lottridge • Illustrator Karen Patkau
Stoddart Kids / Fitzhenry & Whiteside 1995, Oxford University Press 1986
Ages 2-7

In One Watermelon Seed, storyteller Celia Barker Lottridge has combined three splendid books in one – a counting book, a gardening book and a storybook. The wonderfully detailed and engaging illustrations by Karen Patkau offer plenty of opportunities for discussion and counting – from 1 to 10 as the garden is planted and from 10 to 100 as the harvest is gathered.

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REVIEWS
• “… Gay colours and improbably large, prize-style fruits and vegetables and lively children, whose friends arrive to help with the eating, make this a most agreeable way to learn.” – Glowing Point UK

• “The text is kept very simple and remains uncomplicated throughout, while the possibilities and opportunities for real-life experiences abound. …collage illustrations suit the simplicity of the text and yet depict the growing and harvesting process … Colours are vibrant and true to life, as are the people, plants, and animals.” – Highly Recommended – Canadian Materials

• “… an imaginative variation on the counting book genre. … Max and Josephine plant small numbers of seeds and are rewarded with multiples of the numbers. The illustrations are excellent and children love the surprise ending.” – Cityscene Magazine

• “Every now and then somebody actually comes up with and imaginative idea for that old stand-by, the counting book. One Watermelon Seed by Celia Barker Lottridge, illustrated by Karen Patkau … is just such a novelty. … As the jacket promises “there is plenty of opportunity for counting”, and the parent will just have to grin and bear it as the brave and insistent young mathematician tots up 100 ears of corn.” – The Globe and Mail

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