Working with Fractions

October 1, 2007
Gr 3-5-Straightforward text and colorful cartoons depicting a birthday party introduce mathematical concepts. Fractions are defined as "part of something" and illustrated with examples of colored balloons, slices of pizza, pieces of cake, and coins. The same items are also used to discuss the numerator and denominator, equivalent fractions, multiples, simple addition and subtraction, and multiplying by one. The ideas are reinforced with further examples incorporating sheets of paper and paper plates that can be replicated by readers. Loreen Leedy's "Fraction Action" (Holiday House, 1994) presents the same basic concepts for the same age group. Adler's book could be used at home or in the classroom by students working in small groups with manipulatives. An additional purchase."Ann Joslin, Fort LeBoef School District, Waterford, PA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2007
Dressed as a circus ringmaster and a clown, two men arrive at a childs birthday party with a stack of pizzas, a cake, and a suitcase of supplies. During the party, they showthe children the fractional expression of things around them: balloons, pizza, cake, coins, and evena game. When the seven children play musical chairs and only five of them find seats asthe music stops, 5/7 of the children are seated. Theres no real story here, just the opportunity to explore fractions in different ways, aided by a clearly written text and brightly colored, digitally assisted illustrations. Though the pages are sometimes a bit crowded, the graphical expressions of the fractions named in the text are very helpful in showing what thenumbers actually represent. A nice addition to math collections, from the author and illustrator of You Can, Toucan, Math (2006).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)