One North Star: A Counting Book

by Phyllis Root, Beckie Prange (Illustrator), Betsy Bowen (Illustrator)

Overview

Five toads hop, four brook trout swim, three elk graze, two loons call, and one beaver gnaws on a paper birch tree, all under one North Star. Through bog and marsh, along river and lake, across prairie and into the woods, children learn what lives where by counting the creatures on foot or in flight, swimming or perching in exquisite woodcut and watercolor illustrations created by Beckie Prange and Betsy Bowen in an artistic collaboration. For those looking for more about the pictured wildlife, Phyllis Root includes fascinating facts and information on the state’s ecosystems and the plants and animals that make their homes there.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780816650637
Publisher:	University of Minnesota Press
Publication date:	08/15/2016
Pages:	36
Product dimensions:	10.60(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Phyllis Root is the author of more than forty books, most of them picture books. She received a McKnight Fellowship for Lucia and the Light; Aunt Nancy and Old Man Trouble won a Minnesota Picture Book award; Big Momma Makes the World won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award; and Plant a Pocket of Prairie (Minnesota, 2014) won a John Burroughs Riverby Award. She lives in Minneapolis.

Beckie Prange is a biologist and printmaker who has illustrated two previous books, the Caldecott Honor winner Song of the Water Boatman and Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors. She lives in Ely, Minnesota.

Betsy Bowen has written and illustrated many children’s books, including Antler, Bear, Canoe: A Northwoods Alphabet Year; Helen Hoover’s Great Wolf and the Good Woodsman (Minnesota, 2005); and Phyllis Root's Big Belching Bog (Minnesota, 2010) and Plant a Pocket of Prairie. She lives in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

Editorial Reviews

06/27/2016
“Who lives here/ under one north star?” asks this quiet homage to Minnesota’s wildlife and ecosystems. Root (Snowy Sunday) uses a cumulative structure as she counts up to 10 but introduces new flora and fauna with each page turn: “Five walleyes fin near wild rice/ four blue flag irises flower/ three mudpuppies wriggle/ two loons call/ one porcupine sleeps in a jack pine tree/ all along a lake/ under one north star.” Prange and Bowen combine rough-hewn woodcuts with bright watercolors to give a sense of bustling marshes, sweeping plains, and snow-covered forests. Thorough endnotes dive deeper into each of the habitats and the animals that call them home. Ages 3–up. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"A bright, populous countdown for nature lovers, Midwestern or otherwise."—Kirkus Reviews

"Beautiful...one of the most elegant and appealing of the year."—Pioneer Press

"An excellent choice for both young and middle-grade classroom libraries."—Foreword

"A beautiful addition to the library of any child from the North."—Mpls. St. Paul Magazine

"Minnesota librarians should purchase multiple copies of this lovely interactive book. Others should follow suit."—School Library Journal

"One North Star is ever so much more than a ‘counting’ book. Its wood carvings and rich color illustrations pulled me into this wonderful poetic recounting that explores Minnesota’s North Star country. Each page, rich in details, is a beauty to feast upon."—Books for the Curious Child

"A striking and awe-inspiring picture book that poetically counts the wonders of Minnesota’s natural beauty and wildlife."—The Picture Book Review

"The University of Minnesota Press, publisher, has given children and adults another engaging, beautiful book to learn from and enjoy."—ReaderKidZ

"There’s a lot of great natural history here for any curious child."—Anne E. G. Nydam

"Big, bold, and colorful."—St. Paul Pioneer Press

"Bowen collaborates with Beckie Prange to beautify this counting book with exquisite woodcut and watercolor illustrations bringing to life passages."—Cabin Living Magazine

"Though two artists share illustration duties ... the result is eye-catching and seamless."—Lake Superior Magazine

From the Publisher

09/01/2016
PreS-Gr 1—Turn the pages to play a counting game and find the flora and fauna in the Minnesota environs, namely, the lakes, bluffs woods, prairies, marshes, and bogs. The first one in this North Star state is easy to play, because it begins with one moose browsing "by a cobble beach." By the 10th spread, though nine practices preceded it, the challenge deepens to try to match 10 totally new plants and animals to the hints in the text. Young readers may not immediately identify goldenrods, milkweed pods, or soldier beetles, but Root's succinct descriptions work together with Prange and Bowen's black woodcut prints with watercolors, and all the clues are needed. The narrative leads to the poignant question, "Who else lives there?" There in the beautiful landscape are a parent and two children, representing the human inhabitants. All 55 plants and animals heretofore introduced are briefly described and pictured in the concluding spreads. Every page has a North Star reference. VERDICT Minnesota librarians should purchase multiple copies of this lovely interactive book. Others should follow suit, because most of the plants and animals can be found elsewhere.—Nancy Call, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Aptos, CA

School Library Journal

2016-06-22
A cumulative tally of flora and fauna in Minnesota—the North Star State. Bowen's luminous painted woodcuts, based on designs by Prange, depict 10 northern biomes at sundry times of day and year. The residents of each are different, from an opening aerial glimpse of one moose browsing near a rocky Great Lakes beach followed by two brown bats in a limestone cave beneath one soaring rough-legged hawk to views of 10 teals, nine showy goldenrods, eight milkweed pods, seven Canada geese, and other sights common to a broad tallgrass prairie—all, as the refrain goes, "under one north star." After a pointed reminder about one final resident—"You live here, too," showing light-skinned figures at a campfire—Root closes with brief nature notes on the featured plants and animals, plus directions for finding Polaris in the night sky. Despite a patterned format, Root's not-particularly-rhythmic text isn't as sonically pleasing as her own Plant a Pocket of Prairie, also illustrated by Bowen (2014), or Donna M. Bateman's Out on the Prairie, illustrated by Susan Swan (2012), but as befits the various settings, the wild cast is considerably more diverse. A bright, populous countdown for nature lovers, Midwestern or otherwise. (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews