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One Big Pair of Underwear

Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

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About The Book

Count and share with…underwear! Come along on a zany adventure with hilarious pictures from the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site.

What’s one thing that two bears, three yaks, four goats, and six cats have in common?

They hate to share.

But look out—here comes a pack of twenty pigs ready to prove that sharing makes everything twice as fun!

This seriously silly picture book with artwork by the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site irresistibly combines the concepts of counting and sharing.

About The Author

© Laura Gehl

Laura Gehl is the author of One Big Pair of Underwear, Cat Has a Plan, Goat Wants to Eat, Pig Makes Art, Dog Can Hide, Cat Sees Snow, Frog Can Hop, Snow Is, You’re the Sprinkles on My Ice Cream, and You’re the Pumpkin in My Pie. She lives with her husband and their four kids in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Visit her online at LauraGehl.com.

About The Illustrator

Photograph © Marc Andrew Stephens

Tom Lichtenheld has illustrated several bestselling picture books, including One Big Pair of Underwear; Shark vs. Train; Duck! Rabbit!; and Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. He lives with his wife in Illinois. Visit him at TomLichtenheld.com.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Beach Lane Books (September 9, 2014)
  • Length: 40 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781442453364
  • Grades: P - 3
  • Ages: 4 - 8
  • Lexile ® AD420L The Lexile reading levels have been certified by the Lexile developer, MetaMetrics®

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Raves and Reviews

"Share and share alike! Gehl’s debut picture-book text is a silly romp of a counting book with a lesson in sharing to boot. . . comical twists abound in Lichtenheld’s illustrations, which more than hold their own against the text’s goofy details. . . . A picture book to count on for delightful shared reading."

– Kirkus Reviews, June 2014

"Gehl's debut offers lessons in counting and cooperation. . . . Absurdity reigns. . . . Gehl’s tongue-twisting rhymes bounce along winningly, and Lichtenheld (This Is a Moose) gamely pictures the silly activities, from water-skiing cows and scooter-riding seals to twin bears stuffed into a single pair of Y-fronts. This amusing tale of sharing eschews the preachy and relies on nonsense to get readers giggling."

– Publishers Weekly, June 2014

"Gehl’s sunny, rhyming text never misses a beat, and Lichtenheld’s sprightly, silly pencil-and-digital-color illustrations are a perfect match."

– School Library Journal, August 2014

Take one counting book, mix it with a comical tale of underwear-sharing, add some tongue-twisting rhymes, and soon there will be uncontrollable laughter....The rhymes follow familiar spelling patterns (including -ack, -eal, -ar, -at, -ook, and the nervous-making -uck), making this a perfect book for new readers (think Hop on Pop). The goofy situations are made even goofier through Lichtenheld’s familiar and fabulous digitally colored pencil illustrations: it’s hard to keep a straight face when cats are blowing up air mattresses or baboons are playing trombones. The final exuberant parade, and the quietly amusing endpapers, ensure that this will be a popular book for storyhours and independent reading alike. Who knew sharing could be so much fun?

– Horn Book, Sept/Oct. 2014

The word underwear is enough to make kids erupt in giggles. But when two bears contemplate sharing one pair of underwear, youngsters will be rolling in the aisles. Add rhymes, tongue twisters, and alliteration into the mix, and you’ll find spirited entertainment in this picture-book introduction to basic concepts. A joy to read aloud with its well-paced rhythms...Placed on crisp white backgrounds, the digitally colored pencil illustrations are full of charm and humor. With a unique method of introducing subtraction, this wholly engaging title will be requested over and over again.

– Booklist Starred Review

"[A] cunning concept that enlivens the standard counting book with a soupçon of subtraction and a touch of tongue-twisting in the tightly packed rhymes, and it brings some welcome comedy to the venerable but often unexciting topic of sharing. Lichtenheld’s pencil and digital color illustrations are robust yet helter-skelter, with pages rife with motion lines and expressions cinematically exaggerated. The animals are neatly and countably arrayed in tidy tripartite layouts that are effectively counter- balanced with airy spot art. The figures are no dull clones, though: position, dress, and even commentary subtly distinguish them, and the poor excluded animals range from the thunderously angry to the melodramatically sad. The bounce of the verse will keep the interest even of youngsters not ready for the math, and kids who’ve progressed beyond basic counting books will be intrigued by the challenge and delighted by the comedy."
11/10/14 03:06:05 PM

– Bulletin, Starred Review, December 2014

Awards and Honors

  • CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council)
  • South Carolina Picture Book Award Nominee
  • Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended
  • Wisconsin State Reading Association's Reading List
  • CBC-MSRI Mathical Book Prize

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images

More books from this author: Laura Gehl

More books from this illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld

More books in this series: Classic Board Books