The Great Divide

January 30, 2012
Slade uses an appealing formula to simultaneously teach readers about both animal collective nouns and division. Rhyming word problems followed by numerical equations introduce animal groups, including a “charm” of hummingbirds, a “crash” of rhinos, and a “tribe” of billy goats. Readers are encouraged to fill in the answers to each rhyme: “Nine hungry leopards/ waking up from sleep./ Three groups are on the prowl./ How many in each leap? 9 ÷ 3 = ?” Hunter’s naturalistic but warm paintings skillfully embody the two concepts, and appended materials include a matching game, a quiz about animal habitats, and an explanation of how division works. Ages 4–9.

May 1, 2012

K-Gr 5-On each spread of this clever picture book, a rhyming verse introduces the collective noun for a particular type of animal and then asks readers to determine how many creatures would be in each "bale," "mob," etc., if the group were divided into smaller numbers. For example: "Sixteen shiny river toads, /in a sunny spot, /gather 'round four puddles./How many in each knot?" Hunter's colorful illustrations offer clues to the groupings, for the most part, though on a few pages the divisions are not clear enough to help young readers understand the concept. The book covers a wide variety of animals, from a charm of hummingbirds to a crash of rhinos. Back matter offers more activities relating to multiplication, division, and collective nouns, along with a mapping activity that would be highly engaging if the pictures of the animals on the map, needed to answer the questions, were large enough to see. Overall, though, this is a solid resource for math, science, and language-arts lessons.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.