ONESIE'S ODD JOB - A CHEESY MOUSE TALE OF EVEN AND ODD
Author: Mark Ramsay
Illustrator: Susan G. Robinson
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Number of pages: 32
Publisher: Strategic Educational Tools (USA) First published in: 2016 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (The Good Neighbors Math series) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
Onesie feels sad and small until he learns about his odd job determining if the number of cubes that make up all of the cheese in his neighborhood is even or odd. Onesie's good neighbors, Tenor, and Hund-Red, demonstrate why it cannot be their job, and Onesie employs his newly acquired skills when the mice receive the Cheese Census in the mail. What will Onesie determine for the 999 cubes the mice possess? Through this engaging story, children not only learn the definition of even and odd numbers, but also learn why the ones place determines if a number is even or odd. The colorful illustrations provide children with base ten block visual models of even and odd numbers, as well as a deep conceptual understanding of what makes numbers even or odd. |
““Why can’t you determine if the number of cubes that make up all of our cheese is even or odd, Tenor?” I asked. “The number of cubes that make up my sticks is always even and never odd. Sometimes I slice a stick in half to make the number even. I’ll show you,” sang Tenor.””
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Mark Ramsay’s ‘Onesie’s Odd Job: A Cheesy Mouse Tale of Even and Odd’ (2016) is part of The Good Neighbors series, which creatively weaves the use of base ten blocks into the stories about a mouse, named Onesie and his neighbours, Tenor and Hund-Red. In ‘Onesie’s Odd Job’, Onesie is shown by the neighbours how to use the Even and Odd Stick to find out if a given number is odd or even. The page illustrations showing cheese slabs, cheese sticks and then cheese cubes being split on both sides of the Stick are useful to help young readers visualise the concept of odd and even numbers (as well as division and remainders), and to help them become familiar with the use of base ten blocks. One aspect of the story which could have been further developed is the examples of why knowing whether a number is odd or even can be useful for young readers. Not many children of the target age group will easily relate to the given examples (‘Mice-Aid’, census, etc.). Additionally, these examples of purposes are not given until the last few pages of the story. To an extent, the story could have started with a meaningful problem that is more relatable to young children to set the scene, and then the characters could have worked together using the Even and Odd Stick to solve the problem. (Like what is the case with the other two stories in the series) References to data representation on Pages 12-13 unnecessarily distract from the focus of the story. Finally, while the first eight pages of the story (around a third of the pages in the book) helpfully introduce the characters and set the scene, they are the same opening eight pages found in the other two stories in the series. Some readers who buy the 2-3 books in the series might prefer that this 8-page preamble be somehow summarised to a single page (inner cover?), freeing up valuable space to add the depth to each story. All in all, ‘Onesie’s Odd Job: A Cheesy Mouse Tale of Even and Odd’ can be useful for children aged 5+ years old who begin to learn to recognise odd and even numbers using concrete manipulatives. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher)
Recommended age range:
5 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
Odd & Even Numbers
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
Mark Ramsay’s ‘Onesie’s Odd Job: A Cheesy Mouse Tale of Even and Odd’ (2016) is part of The Good Neighbors series, which creatively weaves the use of base ten blocks into the stories about a mouse, named Onesie and his neighbours, Tenor and Hund-Red. In ‘Onesie’s Odd Job’, Onesie is shown by the neighbours how to use the Even and Odd Stick to find out if a given number is odd or even. The page illustrations showing cheese slabs, cheese sticks and then cheese cubes being split on both sides of the Stick are useful to help young readers visualise the concept of odd and even numbers (as well as division and remainders), and to help them become familiar with the use of base ten blocks. One aspect of the story which could have been further developed is the examples of why knowing whether a number is odd or even can be useful for young readers. Not many children of the target age group will easily relate to the given examples (‘Mice-Aid’, census, etc.). Additionally, these examples of purposes are not given until the last few pages of the story. To an extent, the story could have started with a meaningful problem that is more relatable to young children to set the scene, and then the characters could have worked together using the Even and Odd Stick to solve the problem. (Like what is the case with the other two stories in the series) References to data representation on Pages 12-13 unnecessarily distract from the focus of the story. Finally, while the first eight pages of the story (around a third of the pages in the book) helpfully introduce the characters and set the scene, they are the same opening eight pages found in the other two stories in the series. Some readers who buy the 2-3 books in the series might prefer that this 8-page preamble be somehow summarised to a single page (inner cover?), freeing up valuable space to add the depth to each story. All in all, ‘Onesie’s Odd Job: A Cheesy Mouse Tale of Even and Odd’ can be useful for children aged 5+ years old who begin to learn to recognise odd and even numbers using concrete manipulatives. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher)
Recommended age range:
5 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
Odd & Even Numbers
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
