An enjoyable, instructive story with humor, heart and a pair of adorable mice.
Ordinal numbers are featured in this delightful entry in the Mouse Math series starring brother-and-sister team Albert and Wanda.
With his sunny, polka-dot apron on, Albert is excited to make muffins. But then Wanda informs him that they are out of flour. Dismayed, Albert points to the recipe list. “But flour is the first ingredient!...I can’t make muffins without flour.” Wanda suggests that Albert do what their mother does when she is missing an ingredient: Ask the neighbors. And so starts Albert’s enthusiastic quest for the 10 ingredients—all of which he ends up borrowing from friends, neighbors or relatives who are happy to share. At the bottom of the page, readers can see a picture of each ingredient, with its ordinal number, as Albert acquires them. He makes a daring dash from his mouse hole for the last thing—milk—snatching a mouse-sized bottleful from the cat’s bowl. After the muffins are baked, Wanda leads Albert by the paw with their basket of hot muffins as they deliver one to each contributor (even the cat), another opportunity for May to reiterate the ordinals. The colorful drawings are delightfully expressive, each mouse endowed with a defined and individualized personality. Exercises appended reinforce the lesson.
An enjoyable, instructive story with humor, heart and a pair of adorable mice. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-57565-632-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
Unusual illustrations enhance an engaging, informative narrative.
What can a worm do?
A little worm sets off on a “twirl” to “see the world.” But when it overhears a human referring to it as “just a worm,” its feelings are hurt. The worm asks other critters—including a caterpillar, a spider, a dragonfly—what they can do. After each answer (turn into a butterfly, spin silk thread, fly), the worm becomes more and more dejected because it can’t do any of these things. “Maybe I am just a worm.” But then the worm encounters a ladybug, who eats aphids and other insects, and the worm realizes that it eats dead plants and animals and keeps gardens clean. And though the worm can’t pollinate like the bee, it does create castings (poop) that help plants grow and stay healthy. These abilities, the worm realizes in triumph, are important! The cleverness of this story lies in its lighthearted, effective dissemination of information about various insects as well as earthworms. It doesn’t hurt that the expressive little worm is downright adorable, with emotions that will resonate with anyone who has felt unimportant. The stunning illustrations are done in quilled paper—a centuries-old technique that involves assembling strips of colored paper into shapes—which adds sparkle and originality. A tutorial of how to make a quilled butterfly and a page on earthworm facts round out the book. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Unusual illustrations enhance an engaging, informative narrative. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-321256-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
Between its autumn and field-trip themes and the fact that not many books start countdowns from 20, this may find its way to...
A class visits the pumpkin patch, giving readers a chance to count down from 20.
At the farm, Farmer Mixenmatch gives them the tour, which includes a petting zoo, an educational area, a corn maze and a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. Holub’s text cleverly though not always successfully rhymes each child’s name within the line: “ ‘Eighteen kids get on our bus,’ says Russ. / ‘But someone’s late,’ says Kate. / ‘Wait for me!’ calls Kiri.” Pumpkins at the tops of pages contain the numerals that match the text, allowing readers to pair them with the orange-colored, spelled-out numbers. Some of the objects proffered to count are a bit of a stretch—“Guess sixteen things we’ll see,” count 14 cars that arrived at the farm before the bus—but Smith’s artwork keeps things easy to count, except for a challenging page that asks readers to search for 17 orange items (answers are at the bottom, upside down). Strangely, Holub includes one page with nothing to count—a sign marks “15 Pumpkin Street.” Charming, multicultural round-faced characters and lots of detail encourage readers to go back through the book scouring pages for the 16 things the kids guessed they might see. Endpapers featuring a smattering of pumpkin facts round out the text.
Between its autumn and field-trip themes and the fact that not many books start countdowns from 20, this may find its way to many library shelves. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8075-6660-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2012
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