Thank you NetGalley for providing this book for an honest review. This is a cute story about the little word "And" that we don't think about but is important. The story was ok but nothing special that drew me in.

I enjoyed the concepts in this book, the rhyming, and the illustrations. The idea of not making fun of others because they do not look like you is an important message for younger kids.

Thank you #netgalley for a copy of this book to review. Picture books about grammar are what is needed in my classroom. Accessible topics that help students learn concepts they need to know. "And" is often overlooked, but this book shows its importance.

The poor rhyming makes this book difficult to read aloud. The illustrations are pretty and whimsical, and the message is a positive one, but I can’t get past the awkward rhymes and rhythm.

Very cute book about being inclusive. The power of And is that it puts us together instead of driving us apart. Well done and recommended.

I got the point that things are better when you accept everyone but the story was dry and the illustrations were not engaging.

The Story of AND, so simple and yet, so profound. There is magic in the word AND and yes, we can. The concept of this story is so beautiful and wonderful. The illustrations were good, but there just seemed to be an element missing that didn't make it a true standout which I truly feel it could be.

This is a short picture book in verse. The word And is a character that tells different shapes to join together and create new objects, e.g. a line and a circle can create a balloon. It would work well to introduce 2D shapes and the idea of collage to children in Years 1 and 2. The illustrations are quite sweet and colourful but sometimes unclear. You could also use it to encourage children to write their own sentences using and, such as "The circle and the line made a balloon". There is a message of cooperation. However, the rhymes do not flow particularly well and my children did not ask to read it again.

I read this book only 4 days ago and was disappointed by it. In fact, I think it is interesting but that kids just won’t get it. Adults will. It was a story and too deep. I was expecting something fun like this and that. Or and explanation of and by showing you things paired up. I will not recommend this one. Sorry.

I like the overall idea of this book but not the execution. Putting two shapes together to create something is awesome. But did one shape have to bully the other shape before the word "and" came to join them? I wouldn't want to join hands with my bully just because someone said to. The beginning bit about the girl reading books and counting the word "and" also didn't fit with the rest of the story or get referred back to in the end. The art style reminded me of the 90s. This book was just okay for me.

If a review was based on effort and heart, I would give this story 5 stars, but that is not enough to warrant a good critique. Although the illustrations were charming, the verse was forced and often hard to follow. Was this a lesson in geometric shapes or cooperation? How is using the word And going to make the world a better place? I don’t think this is a book a child would pick to read for fun, and I’m not sure it is clear enough for a class discussion.

The concept for this book is wonderful. Alone we are alone, together we are much more than the sum of our individual parts. Thats where the emphasis on the word “and” comes in. The story talks about shapes. There is a circle. There is a line. No need to disparage each other over differences. Why not come together with the word “and” and become a balloon? It’s no longer: Circle. Line. It’s circle and line = balloon. The book goes on to combine various other shapes and emphasizes how they can be more when they come together. Square. Triangle. Square and triangle = house. Many houses = neighborhoods. Oval. Line. Oval and line = music note. Many music notes = a song.

The illustrations seem a bit rudimentary or a tad bit harsh.

All in all, a wonderful message about connection.
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I was offered an electronic copy from netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This is a cute story about that little word we might not think about very often, but is very important. This is also a song that goes along with it. This is such an important word, but if we didn't have it things would be so different. It is a cute idea with wonderfully done illustrations. The story was just OK. It was a little disappointing to me I guess because I expected a little more. It had shapes and some rhyme that seemed awkward, but it has a nice message that the word AND brings so much together with the job it provides. Overall, there was too much happening in this story with an overall nice idea. It is an interesting story for young readers.

I like the idea of the story and the overall message of it: despite differences we are stronger together. However, somewhere between the rhyming and the rude shapes and the message and the focus on the word AND, it just became a lot to follow.

I received a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was only okay for me. I thought it was a nice concept and the pictures were bright, but I didn't enjoy the flow of the text. I didn't even read all the way through because it felt very awkward to me.

It was a little confusing for me to follow this story. I had to read it a second time to see what the word ‘and’ was connecting together. It almost seemed like two separate stories with the beginning with the girl.

This book has illustrations that are just beautiful. Working together is better than working alone is a theme found in this book. Sandy Eisenberg Sasso has created a book with a simple message about caring for others.

Not at all what I expected it to be. It seems to be a story about working together, but it just doesn't work.

The Story of AND by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso is about a young girl who likes to count (or has OCD… could go either way). The adults in her life are rather rude about it, telling her to stop wasting time. But then one day, she read a story aloud, a story about the value of 'and' to bring things together. Line AND Circle made a balloon. Triangle AND Rectangle made a seesaw. Whereas before Line and Rectangle had insulted the other shapes, they saw together they could be something more. The story goes through several more pairings, showing how each could grow, and illustrating the value of cohesion over division. The artwork was a little unusual. Not bad, mind, just not typical of our usual reads. I read this with my cubs and we all enjoyed it.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Flyaway Books for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sandy Eisenberg Sasso is well-known for her thought-provoking, beautifully told stories related to the bible and matters of faith. Although "The Story of And" is not an overtly religious story, its message aligns well with the values of Sasso's own faith tradition, Judaism, as well as the broad scope of religious paths. What makes this book a treasure is that it can also speak to those who claim no faith tradition. It is a marvelous metaphor about how the world's diverse peoples can connect and become more than they are individually. While most of the Western perspective is based on an either/or way of seeing life, Sasso offers the more helpful and hopeful view of "and. . . and . . . and . . . For together humans are stronger and can make the world a place in which all of creation can experience "wholeness."