Fun, practical, and extremely cute.
Longtime educator Pearson uses kittens to demonstrate various math concepts in a book designed for kids aged 8 to 12.
This offbeat workbook opens with the idea that you, the reader, have successfully pleaded with your parents for a pair of kittens. Now, you’ll need your math skills for what comes next: bringing the kittens home from the shelter, buying food and toys, and even starting a club for other kitten lovers. As Pearson notes, “Kittens are the BEST way to learn math!” The book notes that the reader should know three things before getting started: “You are not SUPPOSED to be good at all the math in this book,” you can take your time to figure out problems, and you should remember that making mistakes is an important part of the learning process. Pearson covers a lot of concepts beyond simple addition and multiplication, including integers, decimals, fractions, percents, calculating elapsed time and averages, coordinating pairs, budgeting, converting measurements, reading Venn diagrams, and more. All use practical applications as examples, such as a problem that determines how much dewormer to administer to a kitten based on its weight. There are nearly a dozen hands-on activities, including simple board games to cut out and play, as well as an option to sign up online to receive monthly math and logic activities via email. The book serves as both a math instruction manual and a pet-care guide, offering a wealth of highly specific cat-related advice; however, it lacks sources for this information—the work’s only significant shortcoming. Pearson’s initial advice—to make mistakes and try again, and that not knowing how to do something is how you learn—sets a perfect tone for the book, which is engaging, supportive, and silly without drawing focus away from the math. And if all that wasn’t enough, there are lots of adorable kittens on every page—and “isn’t EVERYTHING more fun with kittens??”
Fun, practical, and extremely cute.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780985572570
Page Count: 132
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
A good choice for a late fall storytime.
Animal behaviors change as they prepare to face the winter.
Migrate, hibernate, or tolerate. With smooth rhymes and jaunty illustrations, Salas and Gévry introduce three strategies animals use for coping with winter cold. The author’s long experience in imparting information to young readers is evident in her selection of familiar animals and in her presentation. Spread by spread she introduces her examples, preparing in fall and surviving in winter. She describes two types of migration: Hummingbirds and monarchs fly, and blue whales travel to the warmth of the south; earthworms burrow deeper into the earth. Without using technical words, she introduces four forms of hibernation—chipmunks nap and snack; bears mainly sleep; Northern wood frogs become an “icy pop,” frozen until spring; and normally solitary garter snakes snuggle together in huge masses. Those who can tolerate the winter still change behavior. Mice store food and travel in tunnels under the snow; moose grow a warmer kind of fur; the red fox dives into the snow to catch small mammals (like those mice); and humans put on warm clothes and play. The animals in the soft pastel illustrations are recognizable, more cuddly than realistic, and quite appealing; their habitats are stylized. The humans represent varied ethnicities. Each page includes two levels of text, and there’s further information in the extensive backmatter. Pair with Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen’s Winter Bees (2014).
A good choice for a late fall storytime. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5415-2900-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
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