The protagonist in this story has a sort of low-grade obsessive/compulsive disorder: “I count anything and everything,” chirps Amanda. The problem is that Amanda’s class is moving on to multiplication and she just doesn’t get it. So she keeps counting things one by one until a dream of too many sheep, too many knitting needles, and too many sweaters pushes her over the edge. Amanda’s story is the forgettable vehicle for what is really at stake here: to disclose the mysteries of multiplication. While the illustrations make the concept graphically obvious, the text can be confusing: “I know about the multiplication sign, X. It means that things can come in groups, or rows, or columns,” but “What I do not know are the multiplication facts.” The term multiplication table is avoided, to no positive effect. At the end of the book, Marilyn Burns (The Greedy Triangle, 1995, etc.) does a credible, if prim, job of explaining the broad contexts of multiplication to adults working with children. (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-590-30012-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Across double-page illustrations, two Lenape Indian families engage in similar activities—an informational juxtaposing of the activities of a family from years past (approx. 400 years ago) as they fish, garden, harvest and play alongside their contemporary counterparts. As the book moves from moon to moon (season to season), one narrative functions as the description for both side-by-side illustrations—an effective visual comparison. The illustrations are stiff, but do reflect the narrative; the text seems a little choppy, more descriptive than lyrical but interesting nonetheless. Each “moon” is named in the native language and in English. A three-page author’s note about the Lenni Lenape is informative and useful. This is a gentle introduction to the fact that Native Americans are an important part of our history—and of our present. (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-58246-192-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2007
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