An enabling alternative to or companion for Stuart Murphy’s Double the Ducks, illustrated by Valeria Petrone (2003), in the...
This new entry in the Mouse Math series sends Albert to the fair, where there are plenty of opportunities to double up.
His friend Leo out when Albert comes calling, the little mouse heads to the fair with big sister Wanda and buys two maps (one for Leo), rides the Ferris wheel four times—twice for himself and then twice more for Leo—wins the pie-eating contest by chowing down on three slices and then three more, and plays the ring toss until he wins the eight tokens needed for two packages of five Robo-Rat action figures. At each stop the arithmetical doubling is depicted below the simple cartoon illustrations both with number sentences and iconic images of such items as tickets or pie slices. Suggestions for discussion topics and enrichment activities at the end are addressed to educators, but young readers should have no trouble themselves re-creating the paper-towel–tube ring toss that Albert and Leo set up after discovering that they had both been to the fair and now have an oversupply of Robo-Rats. Simultaneously publishing are Albert Helps Out (using coins) and Where’s Albert? (skip counting), both also by May, and Bravo, Albert! (patterns), by Lori Haskins Houran.
An enabling alternative to or companion for Stuart Murphy’s Double the Ducks, illustrated by Valeria Petrone (2003), in the venerable MathStart series. (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-57565-835-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Echoes of Runaway Bunny color this exchange between a bath-averse piglet and his patient mother. Using a strategy that would probably be a nonstarter in real life, the mother deflects her stubborn offspring’s string of bath-free occupational conceits with appeals to reason: “Pirates NEVER EVER take baths!” “Pirates don’t get seasick either. But you do.” “Yeesh. I’m an astronaut, okay?” “Well, it is hard to bathe in zero gravity. It’s hard to poop and pee in zero gravity too!” And so on, until Mom’s enticing promise of treasure in the deep sea persuades her little Treasure Hunter to take a dive. Chunky figures surrounded by lots of bright white space in Segal’s minimally detailed watercolors keep the visuals as simple as the plotline. The language isn’t quite as basic, though, and as it rendered entirely in dialogue—Mother Pig’s lines are italicized—adult readers will have to work hard at their vocal characterizations for it to make any sense. Moreover, younger audiences (any audiences, come to that) may wonder what the piggy’s watery closing “EUREKA!!!” is all about too. Not particularly persuasive, but this might coax a few young porkers to get their trotters into the tub. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25425-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
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