Picture Books (Math): Addition, Perimeter, Area, & Volume

For Math Monday, I have two selections sent to me from Holiday House Publishers.   Each book is an enjoyable and educational way for children to see math in the world around them. 

Help MeLearn Addition (by Jean Marzollo)   

Help Me Learn Addition introduces several addition concepts to young children.  It begins with traditional counting in a snappy, rhyming verse format. 

How many puppets?  Look alive!

We count 1, 2, 3, 4,______ (5).

The number 5 is the last we say.

So that’s the answer:  Hip Hooray!

The verses always have an open ended part (as seen in the blank line) for the child listener to anticipate and to participate.  The end rhyme before it always gives the clue (alive/five), so predicting and rhyming skills are both being practiced. The illustrations are photographs of hands with puppets on the fingers, making the concept familiar and allowing it to be interactive.  

Then, the concept of addition begins with 0 and moves up to adding 1.   Both use duck figurines as visuals.  Other more advanced ideas are revealed like the commutative property of addition (7 + 3 = 10 and 3 + 7 = 10), grouping, skip counting, and using tally marks.  Each math problem is illustrated on an uncluttered, solid background with colorful toys or cute figurines, photographed by Chad Phillips.   A two page spread shows all the ways that 10 can be made using addition facts, also illustrating the commutative property.  Help Me Learn Addition is a wonderful early childhood read for ages 2-5.  Parents and preschool teachers will find this book essential in preparing children for primary math skills. 

Perimeter, Area, and Volume: A Monster Book of Dimensions (by David A. Adler)   

Many math concepts are packed into this selection.  Adler begins with a premise familiar to most children—a 3-D movie experience—as well as commonly used words—high, long, tall, and deep. The movie theater experience motif is used throughout the book to offer a real world context as the concepts of perimeter, circumference, radius, dimension, area, and volume are illustrated and explained along with length, width, and depth.  For instance, the movie screen exhibits area and popcorn buckets display volume.  The final page summarizes the main points effectively, fitting each math idea into one of three dimensions. 

Artist Edward Miller’s quirky and exuberant monsters help make this selection entertaining.  They are used both as models and teachers of the math ideas, helping to make math fun and appealing. 

The material is dense which might be a bit overwhelming for younger children, at first.  Repeated exposure and practical applications can easily remedy this issue though.  What I like most about this book is the building of the idea of seeing math concepts in daily life.  A perfect extension is discussing the ideas on field trips, while running errands, or in classroom situations.  Give estimates of sizes.  Figure out the answers.  Discuss which dimension it falls under. 

I recommend Perimeter, Area, and Volume: A Monster Book of Dimensions for ages 8 and up.  This selection is great as an introduction or reinforcement of math vocabulary and application. 

This post is linked up with Math Monday at Love2Learn2Day.

Disclaimer: As per FTC guidelines, I received a copy of each of the aforementioned books from the Holiday House Publishers in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation. All opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone.

Picture Books (Math): The Penguin Lady and The Great Divide

Math and reading can go hand–in-hand, even when a book is not directly about math.  Sylvan Dell makes it easy by combining math and science in their books in a natural and appealing manner. Two of the new titles for Spring 2012 are The Great Divide  and The Penguin Lady.  Each focuses on applying different math skills and building science knowledge while advancing literacy.  These titles are interactive and fun-to-read.

The Penguin Lady (by Carol A. Cole)

Penelope Parker experiences life with penguins—first hand!  As a birthday gift, she receives a penguin from the Galapagos Islands.  Then, her sister sends her two Rockhopper penguins from Argentina.   Next, three  Chinstraps penguins from Antarctic come waddling up to her door.  The narrative continues with a new group of penguins, from four to ten, arriving from another part of the world.   Inside and outside, Penelope has penguins everywhere causing mischief and havoc!   

The illustrations (by Sherry Rogers) are colorful and humorous.  Each two page spread offers an opportunity to count the penguins and discuss their behaviors.   One of the most informative aspects of the book is learning about all the different species of penguins and places they are from—both warm and cold.  Children can find these places on the map, discuss differences in size (another math opportunity), and compare/contrast different species.  A FREE 52-page teaching guide is available which includes extension activities in adding, math games, science, and language-arts.   I recommend The Penguin Lady for ages 2-7.

The Great Divide (by Suzanne Slade)

Written in rhyming quatrains, children are introduced to the concept of division and to the animal group names.   Here is a sample:   

Sixteen shiny river toads,

in a sunny spot,

gather round four puddles.

How many in each knot?

Six rambunctious rhinos

making quite a splash—

three mommas with their babies.

How many in each crash?   

Children interact with the book by solving each riddle and identifying the name associated with each animal group.  For instance, groups of toads are called knots and rhinos are referred to as crashes.  Younger children can count the animals/groups and discuss sound devices (important for early reading skills).  Many of the riddles include alliteration (rambunctious rhinos) and all have end rhymes (splash/crash).  Brainstorm other words with the same beginning sounds or rhymes. 

The illustrations (by Erin H. Hunter) beautifully capture each group of animals in their natural habitats.  Children can talk about where the animals live as well as compare/contrast the different environments.   A FREE 56-page teaching guide is available which includes extension activities in multiplication, division, science, and language-arts.  I recommend The Great Divide for ages 6-10. 

This post is linked up with Math Mondays at love2learn2day and Nonfiction Monday at Rasco with RIF.

Picture Books for Your Day at the Zoo

With spring emerging, many families and classes will be heading to the zoo.   It is a terrific place to visit.  Two of my favorite memories are zoo trips.  On one of them, I was with my boyfriend (now, husband).  I felt like I was walking on air as we held hands, gazed into each other’s eyes, and oh, yea, saw the amazing animals at the Philadelphia Zoo!  The second best one was a class field trip when my daughter was in fourth grade.  I drove three hours with my daughter, her friend, and her friend’s mom.   The trip there and back was as fun as the zoo!   I am always in awe at the diversity and creativity that is reflected in God’s creation.  Zoos are one of the best places to get a glimpse of His work.   

Before you head off for a memorable trip to the zoo, read What’s New at the Zoo?  and ‘Twas the Day Before Zoo Day from Sylvan Dell. 

What’s New at the Zoo? (ages 2-6) by Suzanne Slade  

A mother and her son are going on an animal adventure at the zoo.  Together, they count the number of animals at each exhibit or habitat.  The two-page spreads depict groups of animals interacting both together and with their environments.  A short poetic riddle describes each location.  Here is a sample: 

Five fuzzy brown bears

Snuggle close and smile.

Two cubs wiggle in.

How many in the pile?

Then, at the bottom of each scene is an addition problem: 5 + 2 =.   There are so many excellent teaching opportunities just from sitting down and reading What’s New at the Zoo?  to your children, such as alliteration, rhyme, animal names (including male, female, and baby), counting, and adding.  Of course, your kids will be inspired to have their own animal adventure as they count animals on your zoo day trip.  Sylvan Dell provides a 50-page Teaching Guide and other resources at its website. 

'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day (ages 3-8) by Catherine Ipcizade  
This entertaining adaption of the famous ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas poem brings the animal preparations and habits to life.  There is excitement and anticipation in the air.  Meerkats are watching from their dens while nibbling on bugs.  The dirty, naughty elephants spray the zoo keepers with their trunks and frolic in the cool mud.  The llamas are instructed not to spit.  Other animals are more laid back like the lions slumbering with their heads on their paws and turtles hiding in their shells.  Some animals are discontented:  The Zebras feel their stripes have gotten too dull, so they wish to have polka dots.  Each page is written as an amusing, rhyming stanzas:

With big wooly paws and eyes like the night,
the black bears look scary and cause a fright.
But they really like frolicking out in the sun.
It's true they roar loudly, but mostly for fun. 

As the sun goes down, the zookeepers leave the animals to rest up for the big day.  The next morning, a flood of enthusiastic children enter the zoo for Zoo Day.  Read 'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day before you trip to the zoo.  Through the entertaining text and beautiful illustrations, children will learn about animal habits and temperaments, the zoo keeper's job, poetry, and rhyme.  Sylvan Dell provides a 33-page Teaching Guide and other resources at its website to use with your lesson plans or as fun activities. 

Check out SanDiegoZooKids for games, activities, and animal information (pictures, facts, and videos).   

More Math Trade Books for Home or Classroom Learning

Greg Tang Math Series (ages 3-13) by Greg Tang

As I went through several books in this series with my 9 year old, I observed that he was engaged and enthusiastic.  The illustrations are vibrant and interactive.  Ideally, these books could be used as a warm up before a math lesson or as enrichment at home or school.  My son and I just cuddled up together and went through them.  He was thrilled each time he solved a riddle successfully (and almost always before I could).  Because the pictures are essential, these may be harder to modify to a whole class setting unless the pictures could be viewed through an overhead.  They could be used for small group activities though.  This series would be a wonderful addition to a classroom or home library for independent reading. 

Math Fables.  Highlighting the numbers 1 to 10, there are short, rhyming poetic verses focused on counting as well as behaviors such as cooperation, friendship, courage, and appreciation.  Animal and insects are used in the illustrations.  Each number is shown in multiple ways to build up the concept of adding.  For instance, for the number 8 there are 5 groupings and short poems to show that 5+3, 4+4, 7+1, 6+2, and 8+0 all equal 8.  The same format is followed for the other numbers using the proper addends.  There is also a Math Fables Too.

The Best of Times.  Using simple rhymes, strategies for multiplying any number with zero through 10 are provided.  This book introduces techniques for how to multiply bigger numbers quickly.  Also, the connections of multiplication, addition, and division are illustrated.  For instance, when multiplying a number by 5, it is suggested to round 5 to 10 and, then, cut it in half.  So if you have to solve 24 x 5, you could instead multiply 24 x 10 = 240/2 = 120.  Another example shows how multiples of 8 are doubles three times.  So 6 x 8 would be:  6 + 6 = 12   12+12 =24  24+24= 48.  Similar strategies are given for each number 1-10. 

Math Potatoes: Mind-stretching Brain Food & The Grapes of Math.  My son was most engaged in this problem solving rhymes and pictures.  Each two-paged layout includes an amusing poem in rhyming couplets and a corresponding picture.  In the poem, there is a clue for how to count the items the most efficiently by grouping them and multiplying or adding.  My son was challenged by these, but he had a great amount of success which was confidence building for him. There is an answer key in the back in case you get stumped. 

                  Math Start Series (ages 3-9) by Stuart J. Murphy

The Math Start Series is broken up into three levels, each with about 20 titles.  At the author’s website, books can easily be identified based on level and skill.  I reviewed two books in this series The Sundae Scoop and Let’s Fly a Kite.  The Sundae Scoop is a story centered on combinations.  There are aspects of addition and subbtraction as well.  In Let’s Fly a Kit, symmetry is explored through several real-life scenarios.  The storytelling is just a means to an end.  The real benefit for children is to see that math is relevant in everyday situations.  Since these are not stories you will likely read over and over (unless you are a classroom teacher), I’d suggest using the library to utilize these books.  I found that a large portion of this series was readily available at my local branch. 

How High Can a Dinosaur Count?  (ages 7-9 ) by Valorie Fisher

This selection is not a part of a series, but I feel it is worthwhile to mention.  Each two page spread has a problem solving riddle and a picture.  Using one or more mathematical operations, students can work out the riddles (usually in their heads).  In the back of the book, there are additional questions for each picture that can be utilized to practice thinking skills.  This book is ideal for a child on a second to third grade math level.