Hello Numbers! What Can You Do?: An Adventure Beyond Counting

Learning meets wonder when you invite numbers to come play in your imagination!

First think of One peeking out from the night
Like a point, or a dot, or a shimmering light.

But when One finds a friend to run from or run to,
Then we can’t call both “One”―that new One must be Two!

And should you want something to go in between,
You’ll need a new number, a number like Three.

Four makes a square when it’s standing around,
But what would you see if it flies off the ground?

And then when another new One comes to mind,
Yell out its name if you know it . . . it’s Five!

Do you like the way that these numbers are sounding?
Then join our adventure to count beyond counting!

Hello Numbers! What Can You Do? is not like any other counting book. As each “new One” appears on the scene, the numbers’ antics hint at ever-deeper math. Young readers ages 3 to 6 will not only count along, but begin to wonder about symmetry, angles, shapes, and more.

Written by the mathematician-and-poet team Edmund Harriss and Houston Hughes, and illustrated by longstanding New York Times artist Brian Rea, this rollicking, rhyming book will take you to a whole new world of numbers.

Edmund Harriss is a mathematical artist and clinical assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Arkansas. He is the discoverer of the Harriss spiral. His research has appeared in Nature and in publications of the National Academy of Science and the American Mathematical Society. He has led many math workshops, including at the Museum of Mathematics in New York, appeared several times on the Numberphile YouTube channel, and was the academic director of a summer camp for mathematically gifted elementary students. He is also the creator of Curvahedra, a mathematical construction toy, and is coauthor of the mathematical coloring books Patterns of the Universe and Visions of the Universe. He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Houston Hughes was introduced to poetry slam at Hendrix College in 2006, and by 2010 had made the finals stage at the Individual World Poetry Slam. He’s spent the years since then touring the country and collaborating on multigenre works with chefs, comedians, vaudeville and sideshow acts, and musicians. He’s also produced hundreds of live shows, the critically acclaimed album Growing Up, Not Old, and his TedX talk on storytelling. In 2018 he was named one of Arkansas’ ten “Movers and Shakers Worth Watching” by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. More recently he’s turned his attention to writing for new mediums including video games, a Youtube channel, and the very book you hold in your hand. He lives in, and loves, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Brian Rea produces drawings and paintings for books, magazines, murals, fashion, and film projects around the world. He has illustrated the popular New York Times column “Modern Love” for a decade, and formerly served as art director for the Times Opinion section. His work has been exhibited in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and in Barcelona at the Fundació Joan Miro. He is an adjunct associate professor at the Art Center College of Design and a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale. His first authored book, Death Wins a Goldfish (Chronicle) published in Spring 2019. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, his son, and his plants.

Edmund Harriss is a mathematical artist and clinical assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Arkansas. He is the discoverer of the Harriss spiral. His research has appeared in Nature and in publications of the National Academy of Science and the American Mathematical Society. He has led many math workshops, including at the Museum of Mathematics in New York, appeared several times on the Numberphile YouTube channel, and was the academic director of a summer camp for mathematically gifted elementary students. He is also the creator of Curvahedra, a mathematical construction toy, and is coauthor of the mathematical coloring books Patterns of the Universe and Visions of the Universe. He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Houston Hughes was introduced to poetry slam at Hendrix College in 2006, and by 2010 had made the finals stage at the Individual World Poetry Slam. He’s spent the years since then touring the country and collaborating on multigenre works with chefs, comedians, vaudeville and sideshow acts, and musicians. He’s also produced hundreds of live shows, the critically acclaimed album Growing Up, Not Old, and his TedX talk on storytelling. In 2018 he was named one of Arkansas’ ten “Movers and Shakers Worth Watching” by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. More recently he’s turned his attention to writing for new mediums including video games, a Youtube channel, and the very book you hold in your hand. He lives in, and loves, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Brian Rea produces drawings and paintings for books, magazines, murals, fashion, and film projects around the world. He has illustrated the popular New York Times column “Modern Love” for a decade, and formerly served as art director for the Times Opinion section. His work has been exhibited in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and in Barcelona at the Fundació Joan Miro. He is an adjunct associate professor at the Art Center College of Design and a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale. His first authored book, Death Wins a Goldfish (Chronicle) published in Spring 2019. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, his son, and his plants.