HOW MANY BEADS?

In this “Montessori-inspired” offering, youngsters can “measure, count, and compare” with a string of square beads attached to the book.

Ten colorful, cube-shaped beads are strung together on a thick, blue string (knotted at the end to keep them from falling off) embedded in the back page of the book. A perfectly fitted indentation lets the blocks and string nestle somewhat securely in the back of the book, but the beads are easily displaced, making their use in settings such as libraries problematic. Readers can pull the beads along the cord to measure different items depicted. Each double-page spread presents a different setting (“At home,” “In the sea,” etc.), and gentle prompts in a bold font encourage measuring and comparing: “Which of these is the tallest household object?” In the “Around town” section children can measure pictures of people, a car, a bike, a traffic cone, and a construction crane. The images are not purely proportional, as the 16-story building looks to be only twice as tall as the two-story house. Young children may need help manipulating the beads and making some of the comparisons in the queries, so adult assistance is essential. Surprisingly, readers are not encouraged to measure items in the real world with their beads or any other measuring tool.

Despite some proportion issues, this is a playful introduction to measurement for older preschoolers and up.