Help Me Learn Addition

by Jean Marzollo, Chad Phillips (Photographer)

Overview

This book is aligned with the Common Core State Standards for kindergarten and first-grade mathematics in operations and algebraic thinking: (K.OA.1-5) and (1.OA.1-8). We have 8 little chicks. / We add 1 more, then / we add 1 more. / Now we have ten! / Bright photographs of puppets, marbles, chicks, dogs, and other fun objects, a rhyming text, and a fun game help children learn to add. This book teaches children how to connect numbers with a value and introduces them to mathematical equations. As the author explains, "This is a book about experiencing addition through hands-on play and exploration."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823427598
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	01/01/2013
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	370L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jean Marzollo is the author of Help Me Learn Numbers 0–20, The Little Plant Doctor: A Story About George Washington Carver, and many award-winning books for children, parents, and teachers, including the I Spy series. She lives with her husband in New York State's Hudson Valley. Her website is www.jeanmarzollo.com.

Chad Phillips is the photographer of Help Me Learn Numbers 0–20. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and daughter.

Editorial Reviews

"Child-friendly."

From the Publisher

In this companion to Help Me Learn Numbers 0–20, Marzollo and Phillips teach basic addition skills by making use of rhymed verse and bright photographs of toys and other recognizable objects. In one spread, a word problem prompts readers to add up the riders on a toy train (“Here comes the math train/ straight from Penn!/ 7 plus 3/ equals 10”), while other scenes feature monster finger puppets and ceramic dogs. Concepts like “skip counting” and using tally marks are also introduced, although the rhymes can get overwrought in the process: “Spaceship babies/ want to know more./ Can we tell them what tally marks are for?/ Tally marks help/ us count today./ Here’s a math sentence/ the tally mark way.” Still, this is an inviting visual introduction to addition. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2—Using the clean photographic style and bouncing rhymes of Marzollo's "I Spy" series (Scholastic), this energetic picture book features basic math concepts such as counting, addition, counting by twos and fives, using tally marks, subtraction, and division. Child-friendly objects such as marbles, finger puppets, and animal figurines demonstrate each concept. The book is well suited for reading aloud, with mathematical challenges worked into the verses, allowing rhymes to give clues to the answers. Phillips's brightly colored photos make effective use of negative space to highlight specific mathematical elements; the book as a whole demonstrates similar thoughtfulness in the way concepts progress in difficulty, building from previous examples so as not to overwhelm.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD

School Library Journal

Marzollo's second Help Me Learn title builds on the first (Help Me Learn Numbers 0-20, 2011) but unfortunately does not fix its rhythm and rhyme flaws. Relating to the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics for pre-K through first grade, this latest focuses on addition: counting on, skip counting, number sentences, ways to equal 10, tally marks and a few subtraction problems. But clunky verses with words chosen for rhyme rather than meaning (or even rhythm) plague these pages, and affect not just readers' understanding, but readability as well. "What is the answer / when we add zero? / It's what we had. / Is that clear-o?" However, the book's largest problem is a disconnect between content and audience. The rhyming is appropriate for the younger end of the spectrum but may turn off the older kids, and the tally marks and 3- and 4-digit addition sentences are going to be beyond the younger kids, especially since the math is not really explained. Many of the tiny objects from the first book make a reappearance here in Phillips' photos, but there are some interesting new additions, most notably colorful marbles and some bright and cheerful aliens. This is not a book that kids could (or would) pick up on their own without guidance, and teachers are likely still to prefer to use old favorites that do it well. (Math picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews