Multiply on the Fly

by Suzanne Slade, Erin E. Hunter

Overview

From pirate bugs to spittlebugs to lovely Luna moths, children will love learning about the world s insects in Multiply on the Fly! Following in the footsteps of What s New at the Zoo? and What s the Difference, this rhythmic book teaches multiplication in a way that will make children bug you for more. Teeming with fun facts, readers will multiply with a variety of insects, including daring dragonflies, hungry honeybees, and stealthy walking sticks. The For Creative Minds section in the back of the book keeps the fun rolling with facts about the insect life cycle, matching insect activities, and multiplication guides to make anyone a multiplication master.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607181484
Publisher:	Arbordale Publishing
Publication date:	08/10/2011
Series:	Multiply on the Fly , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	AD580L (what's this?)
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Suzanne Slade is the award-winning author of over 80 books for children including The Great Divide, Multiply on the Fly, What’s the Difference?, What’s New at the Zoo?, and Animals are Sleeping for Sylvan Dell. Her works include picture books, biographies, as well as many non-fiction titles about animals, sports, and nature. One of her favorite parts of the writing process is researching and learning new things. Suzanne lives near Chicago with her husband, Mike, two children, and their tiny dog, Corduroy. She enjoys visiting schools in-person or during her live virtual author visits.

As both a children’s book and scientific illustrator, Erin Hunter specializes in entomological and botanical illustrations. She illustrated A Day in the Deep, The Great Divide, Multiply on the Fly, and A Day on the Mountain for Sylvan Dell, and she has taught botanical illustration and field sketching at University of California at Santa Cruz. Erin’s portfolio includes print and online design projects for clients ranging from marketing firms to culinary groups to educational organizations—and she’s drawn insects under a microscope for the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. Erin lives with her husband on California’s Monterey Peninsula. When she’s not sketching and painting, she tends to flowers, fruit trees, and vegetables in her backyard garden.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 2–4—Multiplication problems from1 to 11 are all presented in short, four-line rhymes. Each problem sits on a spread vibrantly illustrated with a group of realistic insects. Sometimes the rhymes make the problems a tad confusing: "Five lonely grasshoppers/sound their mating song./Each strums two shiny wings./How many play along?" Is the question referring to grasshoppers or wings? The written equation "5 x 2 = ?" clears it up. Other featured insects include ladybugs, fireflies, solider ants, honey bees, monarchs, and pirate bugs. A "For Creative Minds" section includes facts about insect body parts and life cycles as well as several reproducible worksheets. One valuable and often misunderstood bit of information, "All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs," is regrettably not expanded upon. The "Multiplying Numbers" page is a helpful addition, providing kids with three different approaches for solving the examples found in the text-count the items, add each group, or multiply. It is worth noting that it is not always easy to count the items; one equation requires counting the wingspans of the luna moths, although there is no ruler on the page to show the number of inches (and if a ruler is employed to solve the equation, readers discover that the wingspans are not "three inches" anyway). In spite of its flaws, creative teachers could find a use for this title.—Heather Acerro, Rochester Public Library, MN

School Library Journal

In rhyming verse Slade describes the physical features and behaviors of insects while introducing a multiplication question: "Four lovely luna moths/ rest upon a pine./ Each one spans three inches./ How long is the luna line? 4x3=?" Readers won't find hints or answers on the spreads; for that they can turn to the extensive back matter, which includes a multiplication table and information about the insects. Hunter demonstrates care in her naturalistic illustrations of such species as dragonflies, honeybees, pirate bugs, spittlebugs, and butterflies. Ages 4–9. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

" A perfect way to cross the disciplines of math and science that shows students how nature uses math in a fun, picture book way. - Library Media Connection

From the Publisher