You Count, I Count: Your Life Has Purpose

"You Count, I Count" is a picture book for children. It is a Robin And The Giant book and features the two characters named Robin and The Giant. Robin and The Giant are friends in the third grade. They attend school together in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City.

In this story Robin and The Giant are going to see a concert by their favorite recording group. The group is called Count. Count has ten members. They are a very diverse group and they are all different in one way or another. Instead of names, each of the members of Count go by a number. One and Two are the lead singers. Three is the lead guitarist. Four is the drummer. Five plays keyboards. Six plays the upright bass. Seven plays the accordion. Eight plays the flute. Nine plays trumpet. And Ten plays the saxophone.

Their most popular song is called "You Count, I Count." The message of the song is that everyone is important.

Despite that message, Four, the drummer, is feeling less important than the other members of the band and he goes missing.

Robin and The Giant sit in the theatre waiting for the concert to begin when, One, the male lead singer, announces to the audience that the show cannot go on until Four is found.

Robin volunteers to go looking for Four and, toghether, Robin and The Giant search the neighborhood. But when they find him they realize that he is feeling unimportant. It becomes their mission to help him see that he is very important but the task is not an easy one because Four has a reason why he feels that each of the other members of the band count more than he does.

This book is fully illustrated in expressive and colorful artwork. Younger readers will have another tool to become familiar with numbers while the more progressive readers will recognize the deeper meaning behind the story.

Robin MacBlane has been writing stories for children all her life. In 1988 she joined forces with Larry Whitler and together they wrote and performed stories and songs for children under the name Robin And The Giant. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Robin has worked as a radio host of the children's radio show Robin And The Giant as well as the host of the interview driven program, AM Ocala Live, for nearly 30 years. Additionally she has worked as a writer and narrator for the popular children's podcast called Storybook Railroad. Robin is the mother of two adult children and, as of this writing, she has one grandchild. Robin currently lives in Ocala, Florida.

Larry Whitler was born in New York City. While still an infant, his family moved from the Bronx to Levittown and then, in 1962, to North Merrick on Long Island. In 1972 Larry's family moved to Rainbow Lakes Estates north of Dunnellon, Florida.