A clever idea for a story about acceptance, togetherness, kindness, etc. The illustrations of what the shapes become is fun. I do think it will be a little tricky for kids to understand the concepts with the way they are presented, I can see a lot of explaining happening during a story time.

I like the theme of togetherness, friendship, and inclusion in the book...I'm just not a big fan of how it's written. It's not exactly lyrical or "catchy". I can see possibly reading it to young kids needing SEL centered around the theme, but as a librarian who tells stories to young kids constantly, I don't see how this one would hold their attention as well as others written on the same subject.

The Story:
There’s a little girl who loves to count the word AND. Despite everyone telling her not to bother, she doesn’t give up. This book then goes into a tale of how AND holds everything together. When various shapes begin to argue, AND tells the shapes that together they can be great.

Favourite Spread:
My favourite spread was when AND combined Line and Oval to create a crotchet. The musical stave was beautifully illustrated and this, coupled with the fact Carrie Newcomer has written an accompanying song for the story, just seemed to bring the project together.

The Verdict:
I had extremely high hopes for this book as I loved the concept. I also loved the inventiveness of the things AND creates by combining shapes. It has a lovely educational feel as well as a nice message that we are better when we work together. But despite the potential of the idea, the book didn’t quite deliver. There were one too many places where the rhythm and half-rhymes made me stumble over the sentences. However, when you read it along with the song by Carrie Newcomer it does work much better.

Picture Book Perfect Rating:
Three out of five stars (as a standalone book).
Four out of five stars (when listening to the song).

Accompanying song by Carrie Newcomer can be found here. https://www.flyawaybooks.com/resources

I am very grateful to the publisher for providing me with an advanced digital copy via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an electronic ARC from Flyaway Books through NetGalley.
No one understands why this young girl counts the number of time "and" is used in her books. They think it's a waste of time. She shares why "and" is such an important word.
She begins with connecting shapes to form various useful objects. She moves on from there to her point about making connections with each other and making the world a better place.
Brightly colored illustrations and expressive faces on the shapes support the text and draw the reader in to the story.
Simple rhyming text moves the reader forward through the book.

This book was a bit confusing, it started out as a story about a little girl obsessed with the word AND and then she told a story within the story and ended up talking about being a family. My toddlers were not engaged with this book, and even when trying to point out the shapes encountered along the way they had trouble seeing each shape that was being talked about. Some examples showed how they worked together better than others. Overall, this book was not a hit in our house.

This book was fun and different! The illustrations were different than normal. The author used AND as a character. The illustrations as well as words, making the two shapes come together was great. My kids are 8 and 5 and liked guessing what the two shapes together were going to make. We loved the message of community and what we can be together. In the current political climate and world in general, it was a great message of working together and looking beyond the obvious of what one can be alone. The message focused on being better together. The below quote was very powerful:
“To create a world without a missing piece, all the different shapes make us complete. I am I, and you are you. This is really nothing new. But remember, it’s a fact: We are stronger back to back.”

The Story of AND is a creative and sing-songy book that shares the power of working together. Everyone has something about them that makes them unique and when we combine these differences we can do wonderful things. This book does a great job illustrating that we are stronger when we join together and the artwork is engaging for young and old readers alike.

I read this with my 8 year old who loved the unique interpretation of this important message. I think this would be a wonderful book to read with any grade school aged children. Thank you to NetGalley and Flyaway Books for gifting me a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book! What a cool story with a great moral. I will definately be purchasing this for my library and sharing with students and teachers.