Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-The Pig family is back, starring in another mathematics adventure. This book tackles the concept of probability in the perfect environment-a carnival, complete with games galore. As they enter the fair, the piglets want to go on the rides, while their parents want to start with the booths. Since they can't be in two places at once, Mr. Pig decides to flip a coin, and thus probability enters the story line. After an invigorating ride on the roller coaster, the pigs try their luck at numerous games of chance, providing lots of opportunities for discussing concepts. Like the other offerings in the series, this title is designed around the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics's Thirteen Standards, making it a useful tool in the elementary classroom. Math questions related to the story are located at the end, which are especially handy since many of the new standardized math tests combine reading and listening skills along with problem solving. The colorful ink, watercolor, and acrylic illustrations are a bit busy, but work well with the carnival setting. The odds are high that this title will be another piggy hit.-Lisa Gangemi Krapp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
There's a good chance that young readers won't learn much about probability from this latest Pig family adventure. The brightly illustrated story finds the foursome playing carnival games, most of which are poor choices for introducing probability concepts. For all but one of the games, the odds of winning can't even be determined because a playerÆs skill affects the results. From HORN BOOK Spring 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In this seventh picture-book title about math, Mr. and Mrs. Pig take the piglets to the county fair for a muddled introduction to probability. The author, a former elementary-school teacher, explains that she decided that having the pigs take chances on games would be a fun way to learn about probability. Maybe, but in order to learn about probability, the author would need to spend more time explaining how probability works. She confines her explanations to one page at the end of the book, where she states: Probability is the chance that something will happen. The probability of you getting a letter in the mail can be anywhere from 0 percent to 100 percent, depending on how many friends you have who write to you! Actually the probability of getting a letter on any given day is more complicated and hardly random. She states a game is fair . . . if every player has equal odds, or chances, of winning. Then she has Mr. Pig try to bounce the basketball into a hoop. He gets a basket on the first try, but misses the next eight shots. Mrs. Pig advises, Dear, I dont think the odds are in your favor. Here it is not a question of odds, but skill. While young children may enjoy the boldly colored illustrations of nattily dressed pigs zipping between rides and games at the fair, they wont learn much about probability, despite the authors motto, Math + Reading = Fun. (Picture book. 5-8)
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