Is 2 a Lot

April 15, 2019
A picture book that accurately depicts how children think about numbers and values in a fun and engaging way. What is a lot? Joey has many questions about what "a lot" means. "Is 2 a lot?" What about four--or 100? As Joey and his mother drive out of town into fantastical settings from the past and present ("Fasten safety belt before time travel," reads a road sign), his mother explains that a number of anything can be a lot or not a lot at all. The examples that Joey's mother gives are humorous ("TWO is not a lot of pennies," she observes, "but TWO is a lot of smelly skunks") and will make people of all ages laugh as they read this book. Numbers are both written as words and shown numerically to help readers identify the two different systems, making it a great book to add as a supplement to math curricula. Evans' playful watercolor illustrations encourage engagement. Readers will want to count the number of skunks, cowboys, and other imaginative creatures and objects Joey and his mother discuss throughout the book, and they will enjoy seeing various characters from the places they visit pile into the trunk of the station wagon. Joey and his mom present East Asian, and other humans they meet are diverse. Children who are learning the meaning of value and numbers will both learn from this book, with its whimsical examples of what "a lot" means, and find much to enjoy. (Picture book. 4-6)

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