Parts of a Whole

"It's so rare these days to read or watch or see something and think "wow, I've never seen that before." That's how I felt when I read PARTS OF A WHOLE. It's a really unique, interesting concept for a picture book. The inviting illustrations break apart a random assortment of things (meals, an orchestra, a sandbox, a roll of toilet paper...) into it's parts. The whole concept is what parts make up a whole. The text is primarily a set of words labeling the pictures. The illustrations are cute, colorful, and oh-so-organized. I found this to be absolutely delightful." ―My Storytime Corner IG

"In this continuation of the Neatly Organized Things series, a cat named Ada tells us she’s really interested in the component parts of various things. Would we like to help her deconstruct an array of everyday objects?  Once again, we see a large image on the left side of the page paired with its contents, shown on the right side of the page in minute detail. We start with a bowl of fruit salad, which contains grapes, bananas, blueberries, kiwi, and so on. Then we’re on to a sandbox, which has sand (of course) but also toy trucks, children, buckets, and some tongue-in-cheek discoveries, such as ants and “things left behind”. The bright digital art is clear and snappy and young children will enjoy the assortment of objects as well as their realistic proportions. For example, the bowl of alphabet soup has a lot of letters, fewer carrots, and just a few slices of celery. Other highlights include a hockey team (this is a Czech import) including 16 adult men in their underwear, a chamber orchestra, complete with multiethnic and multi-gender musicians and their instruments, and an oak tree made up of leaves, but also birds, bugs, and squirrels." ―Youth Services Book Review

"A cat named Ada invites the reader to sort through the individual parts that make up different items. We look at each part of a fruit salad, a play sandbox, and a Christmas tree. We explore items in a sweet shop, a hockey game, and an oak tree. We even take apart all the little cogs and wheels of a cuckoo clock! The illustrations are so cute! The art work is bright and sunny. I can’t quite explain why, but there is such an atmosphere of cheerfulness in this book." ―Luminous Libro

"PARTS OF A WHOLE is an intriguing picture book that discusses the things that make up a whole. The book begins with Ada the cat who is wondering what makes up different things. She then travels to think about what makes up a Christmas tree, a road intersection, space, a roll of toilet paper, and more. Curious children will enjoy breaking these wholes apart into all their pieces. 

What I loved: This is a clever premise that helps children to start thinking about teamwork and how small things can make up a larger concept. The different wholes that are broken apart into tetris-like images that are also labeled for ease of describing. The things chosen are really interesting, describing a wide swath of different types of things from objects around the house and toys to more abstract concepts like hockey matches and intersections. 

The illustrations are quite clever and will appeal to young readers. The book could also be turned into simple games with children thinking about all the parts they can think of and then finding them in the other illustration or trying to describe how they all come together in the whole. 

Final verdict: PARTS OF A WHOLE is an intriguing book that helps children to consider how small things can add up to something exciting." ―YA Books Central