What Happened to 8?

What Happened to 8?? Book Cover with a detective holding a magnifying glass over the numeral 8.
Author Jon Lefkovitz and Illustrated by Joe Bearor
(descriptions provided for those with eyesight limitations)

Hi everyone,

I want to let Jon,the author, of this cute picture book tell you about what happened to 8…

This book began several years ago when I was pushing my three-year-old nephew Isaac on a swing as he giggled and counted, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9…” 

“Wait!” I said. “What happened to 8?” 

The giggling turned to full-blown laughter as we started counting again, each time skipping a different number and following the ‘mistake’ with an incredulous, “Wait!” And with the invention of this bit, an idea was born. I researched the concept and saw that, although there are a lot of counting books out there, I couldn’t find one that centered on skipping numbers as a means of engaging readers in learning.

I proceeded to write the book, coming up with a rhyming exclamation for each number. Isaac’s favorite was “fiddlesticks” – that’s even what he called the book for a while. My personal favorite was “man alive!”, a bizarre expression that’s not used much anymore. The most difficult number to figure out was nine. Lots of things rhyme with “nine,” but nothing seemed to work. My sense of humor initially led me to “swine!”; that didn’t go over well with anyone to whom I showed the book. My parents suggested “shine”, which felt nice, but didn’t make enough sense if you really thought about it (Sorry, Mom and Dad!) I finally brought the dilemma to my ingenious wife Talia, who instantly suggested “whine!” I love collaborating with loved ones.

Once all of the text was complete, I had a new problem: I needed an illustrator. Luckily, my brilliant friend Joe is also a brilliant artist – I asked him to illustrate the book, and to my eternal relief, he agreed. It was Joe who came up with the story of the hapless detective trying to locate each of the eight missing numbers. It was Joe who was able to translate the humor and playfulness of the game Isaac and I created into a visual format. It was Joe who brought the idea to life. 

I was thrilled to discover Amazon’s CreateSpace platform; having the book available all around the world is an incredible feeling. It’s been a joy hearing from friends and strangers whose children are enjoying the experience. Multiple people have sent me a photo or video of their child’s gleeful reactions as they read the book out loud. I was also happy to finally answer Isaac (now eight years old), with a resounding “Yes!” when he asked if the book was published yet. Needless to say, it’s dedicated to him.

So that’s the origin story of “Wait! What Happened to 8??” I want to thank Wanda for the opportunity to invite you to join the number-finding adventure!
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Official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/waitwhathappenedto8

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1729762352/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542484106&sr=1-1&keywords=wait+what+happened+to+8

-Jon 

Thank you, Jon, for sharing your very creative, fun, counting book with us today. I hope you all will check out this book for your child or grandchild or niece/nephew and/or leave a comment and let Jon know what you think about his book. As always, shares are appreciated!!