Counting Zero in

Book review of ‘When Zero Left Numberland’

I was honestly jealous of my classmates who are good in Math. When it’s our Math time, I usually see myself asking, ‘Why can’t I perform all orders of operation to solve a lengthy equation?’ My mom at home would be in a high temper teaching me how to get the quotient or the product of given numbers in our homework.

Feeling hopeless with numbers, I told myself that Math will never be for me. But the book I once borrowed from our library, “When Zero Left the Numberland” by Maita Songco Salvador, taught me some things that are too valuable.

Since English is my favorite subject, I like how the story is told through personification and rhymes. After reading the book, numbers became interesting for me because I got the idea about each number’s character. With the story still in my head, I chucklingly imagine Nine is a judgemental, Eight is a gossiper, and I was like Zero, an inferior.

Reading the book made me realize that being judgemental can break relationships. Zero was misjudged to be the useless in the flock of numbers. Upon hearing this from gossips, he left the Numberland and moved into the alphabet neighborhood.

After leaving the Numberland, the numbers had a problem – they cannot complete equations because of zero as the missing value. This part taught me that you don't know what you have until it's gone. We all have values, and we should always see that.

Also, the book taught me about forgiveness and acceptance. When Zero was rejected to join the family of alphabet and that he was asked to go back to his family, there really is no place like home. A family is always there to accept you.

After reading the book, I loved Mathematics more because learning it will make me whole as a student. Envy will no longer have a room in my heart from now on also because Maita’s book has taught me that each of us has a value.