TWO WAYS TO COUNT TO TEN
Author: Ruby Dee
Illustrator: Susan Meddaugh
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Number of pages: 32
Publisher: Square Fish (USA) First published in: 1988 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? No Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
A retelling of a traditional Liberian tale in which King Leopard invites all the animals to a spear-throwing contest whose winner will marry his daughter and succeed him as king. |
“With a toss of his head, he flung the spear far up into the air. Before it could fall to earth, he called out five words. "Two! Four! Six! Eight! Ten!" he cried. "I have counted to ten. King Leopard did not say how the count was to be made." The King laughed and nodded his royal head.”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Ruby Dee’s ‘Two Ways to Count to Ten’ (1988) retells a brilliant Liberian folktale about King Leopard who organises a contest to seek his successor. The challenge of this contest deems impossible at first: contestants must throw King Leopard’s spear up in the air and count to ten before it comes back to earth again. Contestant after contestant fail to succeed in this challenge, thinking that the key to win this contest is to be strong and to be able to throw the spear in the air as high up as possible to allow them enough time to count to ten. However, a small slender antelope outsmarts all the other contestants by counting to ten in twos instead, and wins the contest. Mathematically speaking, the story does a good job in providing a meaningful and fun context for very young children to learn the concept of skip counting. We can imagine a teacher or a parent also sets their children a challenge which is to see if they could be even faster than the antelope (i.e. count to ten in fives instead). The story also provides an excellent opportunity for children to investigate number properties particularly the concept of odd and even numbers: why can’t we count in odd numbers to get to ten, for example. In the age of gender equality, the storyline can be slightly awkward: only male animals are invited to enter this contest to succeed King Leopard, and the winner gets to marry King Leopard’s daughter. All in all, we recommend ‘Two Ways to Count to Ten’ to primarily introduce the concept of skip counting to (but can also be used to explore odd and even numbers with) children, aged 5+ years old.
Recommended age range:
5+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Skip Counting; Odd and 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.
Ruby Dee’s ‘Two Ways to Count to Ten’ (1988) retells a brilliant Liberian folktale about King Leopard who organises a contest to seek his successor. The challenge of this contest deems impossible at first: contestants must throw King Leopard’s spear up in the air and count to ten before it comes back to earth again. Contestant after contestant fail to succeed in this challenge, thinking that the key to win this contest is to be strong and to be able to throw the spear in the air as high up as possible to allow them enough time to count to ten. However, a small slender antelope outsmarts all the other contestants by counting to ten in twos instead, and wins the contest. Mathematically speaking, the story does a good job in providing a meaningful and fun context for very young children to learn the concept of skip counting. We can imagine a teacher or a parent also sets their children a challenge which is to see if they could be even faster than the antelope (i.e. count to ten in fives instead). The story also provides an excellent opportunity for children to investigate number properties particularly the concept of odd and even numbers: why can’t we count in odd numbers to get to ten, for example. In the age of gender equality, the storyline can be slightly awkward: only male animals are invited to enter this contest to succeed King Leopard, and the winner gets to marry King Leopard’s daughter. All in all, we recommend ‘Two Ways to Count to Ten’ to primarily introduce the concept of skip counting to (but can also be used to explore odd and even numbers with) children, aged 5+ years old.
Recommended age range:
5+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Skip Counting; Odd and 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.
