Splitting the Herd: A Corral of Odds and Evens

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Miss Emma’s cows just can’t stay put!

Each time they wander into Cowboy Kirby’s yard, he uses odd and even numbers to count the herd. Then he sends all the evens back to Emma and keeps the odds for himself. It’s only fair, he thinks. And, besides, Emma sure is cute. Kirby doesn’t notice that his herd keeps getting smaller while Emma’s grows larger. Emma is the kind of gal that is good at math (as well as running a ranch and baking a cake). Yet she’s tenderhearted and doesn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings by explaining his math mistake. How will she solve their problem with odds and evens? Count on Emma for coming up with a surprise ending!

Ages 5-8

Reinforced binding

WRITTEN BY

TRUDY HARRIS

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

j

M i l l b r o o k

P r e s s

•

RUSSELL JULIAN

M i n n e a p o l i s

To Marie and Christy, our valuable additions. And to Jean Reynolds, thank you—T.H. For Peter and Gabriella Moruzzi—R.J.

Text copyright © 2008 by Trudy Harris Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Russell Julian All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Millbrook Press A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN U.S.A. 55401 Website address: www.lernerbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Harris, Trudy. Splitting the herd : a corral of odds and evens / by Trudy Harris ; illustrated by Russell Julian. p. cm. ISBN 978–0–8225–7466–8 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper) 1. Counting—Juvenile literature. 2. Numbers, Natural— Juvenile literature. I. Julian, Russell, ill. II. Title. QA113.H3695 2008 513—dc22 2007044373

Manufactured in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 – DP – 13 12 11 10 09 08 978-0-7613-4658-6

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iss Emma had a problem with her cattle on the range. They were restless, roving critters, always looking for a change. They didn’t care for fences, and a barn was of no use. Those stubborn, ornery animals were always getting loose!

3

To complicate the matter, when the cows began to stray, they would head to Cowboy Kirby’s yard and munch on Kirby’s hay.

4

“I saw some sneaky critters escapin’ from your yard,” Cowboy Kirby said to Emma. “But the problem isn’t hard. “20 cows are in my pasture, so I’ll tell you what to do: since every critter looks alike, we’ll split the herd in two.

5

“Count 1, 2, 3, 4... Keep the cattle in a line. Even numbers will be yours. All the odd ones will be mine. 10 apiece should work out fine.”

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 6

11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 7

That seemed to solve the problem. Emma took her cows back home. But next morning, without warning, 2 of them began to roam.

8

“12 cows are in my pasture,” “12 cows are in my pasture,” Cowboy Kirby said to Emma. Cowboy Kirby said to Emma. “I know exactly what to do “I know exactly what to do to deal with this dilemma.” to solve this cow dilemma. 9

“Count 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . Keep the cattle in a line. Even numbers will be yours. All the odd ones will be mine. 6 apiece should work out fine.”

10

1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

6,

Kirby looked a little puzzled as he slowly scratched his head. “This worked out well the last time. So this must be right,” he said. “Well, actually,” said Emma, “2 cows were on the path . . . ” “Now, don’t you worry,” Kirby said, “I’m pretty good at math.”

7,

8,

9,

10,

11,

12

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“I hate to hurt your feelings, but I think there’s some mistake,” Emma smiled and said to Kirby, “Let’s discuss it over cake.”

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They discussed the current state of things in nations far and wide, discussed the flowers in the spring, the moon, the stars, the tide. And when the cake was finished, they set a date to dine. They didn’t even mention cows, so 6, for now, seemed fine. 13

As the rooster crowed next morning, 2 more cows charged through the gate. They joined the 6 in Kirby’s yard. That added up to 8.

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“8 cows are in my pasture. Here’s what we ought to do.” Kirby proudly said to Emma, “Let’s divide them all by two. 15

1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

“Count 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . Keep the cattle in a line. Even numbers will be yours. All the odd ones will be mine. 4 apiece should work out fine.”

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6,

7,

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As Kirby scratched his forehead, Emma said, “That’s not quite right. We can talk about it over cake. Come join me for a bite.” 17

They read a book by Robert Frost and marveled at the rhyme but didn’t even mention cows— there simply wasn’t time.

18

And when the clock struck half past nine, 4 cows, for now, somehow seemed fine. 19

That midnight in the moonlight, a fateful thing occurred. 2 cunning cows crept through the fence, deserting Emma’s herd.

20

“6 cows are in my pasture, I’ve got to mend that fence. But first,” he said, “let’s split them up, ‘cause that makes perfect sense.

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“Count 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . Keep the cattle in a line. Even numbers will be yours. All the odd ones will be mine. 3 apiece should work out fine.”

1, 22

2,

3,

4,

5,

6

Emma sweetly said to Kirby, “There’s a point I need to make,” Kirby grinned and said to Emma, “Let’s discuss it over cake.” 23

Miss Emma’s famous carrot cake was simply soooooooo divine. And when the evening ended, 3 cows, for now, seemed fine.

24

But the fence still needed fixing, and the grass looked greener yonder. 2 willful cows from Emma’s ranch began again to wander.

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“5 cows are in my pasture. This time it isn’t fair. With 3 for me and 2 for you, there seems to be a spare.” Kirby counted and he counted. He thought with all his might. He couldn’t figure what was wrong, though something wasn’t right.

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At last, Miss Emma shook her head. She gave a painful sigh. “There’s something I must tell you now.” She looked him in the eye. “This isn’t right,” Miss Emma said. “It’s turning out all wrong. I should have told you sooner. It’s gone on far too long.”

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Kirby suddenly looked nervous. His voice was faint with fear, “I’ve meant to tell you something too.” Then he whispered in her ear.

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“Yes! You’ve solved the problem!” Emma squealed, then went to make the batter and some frosting for a very special cake.

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They were happy ever after, and their cows lived side by side. Cows no longer were divided— in fact, they multiplied!

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Cowboy Kirby says that some numbers are “even” and others are called “odd.” How can you tell the difference? Picture a jumping cow. She starts at the beginning of a number line and jumps over every other number. The numbers she jumps over are odd numbers, such as 1, 3, 5, and 7. The numbers she lands on are even numbers, such as 2, 4, 6, and 8.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 How did the cow get from 2 to 4? She skipped the number 3. To get from 4 to 6, she skipped the number 5. When we skip-count by two and begin with an even number, we count only the even numbers. (If we skip-count by two and begin with an odd number, then we count only the odd numbers.) As you look at the numbers that follow, can you tell which number will come next? Do you know which numbers have been skipped? 2, 4, 6, 8, ___ If you are counting objects and end with an even number, half of the numbers you count will be odd and half of the numbers will be even. For example, if you count to 4, you will count two odd numbers (1 and 3) and two even numbers (2 and 4). As you count to 10, there will be five odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) and five even numbers (2, 4, 6, 8, 10). When some of Miss Emma’s cows escaped to Cowboy Kirby’s yard, he knew that he could split that herd evenly by giving Miss Emma the even numbers and keeping the odd-numbered cows for himself. Then why did his share of the herd keep getting smaller? Do you think it could be because he forgot about those cows that didn’t escape?

Trudy Harris is

the author of several successful math concept books, among them Pattern Fish, Pattern Bugs, 20 Hungry Piggies, Jenny Found a Penny, and 100 Days of School, which was an American Bookseller Assocation (ABA) American Bookseller Kids’ Pick of the Lists. Trudy has a B.S. in elementary education with a minor in art from Brigham Young University. She and her husband Jay live in Idaho where Trudy teaches kindergarten.

Russell Julian

studied illustration at Anglia University in Cambridge. Russell has illustrated several board books and picture books. He lives in North London where his favorite hobby of gardening provides him with inspiration.

j Millbrook Press

A division of Lerner Publishing Group 241 First Avenue North • Minneapolis, MN 55401 www.lernerbooks.com Printed and bound in U.S.A.

Cowboy Kirby and Miss Emma use Odd and Even numbers to divide up their herds—which leads to a muddled mess! But you can count on a happy ending in this rollicking tale.