The mission of addition

K-Gr 2-The team behind the "Words Are CATegorical" series (Carolrhoda) offers the first in a series about math. Through playful rhymes, the book explains basic concepts such as, "No amount gets smaller when you're working in addition. The numbers climb from low to high 'cause that's addition's mission!" Children count bubbles, rings, school buses, baseballs, baby-sitters, eggs, and musicians in this fun introduction, which also covers terms that are indicative of the operation: "`Equals' can be used like `is,' or `totals,' even `makes.' It doesn't matter if you're adding friends or birthday cakes." Silly cartoons of the catlike cast in flat colors are outlined in black ink. It is sometimes difficult to count the objects such as bubbles, which float individually in the air as well as fill the tub in a solid mass. While 10 baby-sitters are introduced in one segment, they are sometimes difficult to differentiate from their charges and are never pictured together for youngsters to count. The final spread challenges readers to solve five simple addition problems, only two of which include tangible objects to count. Without memorizing number facts, it may be difficult to make the jump from "three eggs plus two eggs equal five eggs" to "6+5=?" Furthermore, the small size of the book makes it difficult for group sharing. All in all, an additional purchase.-Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The big-nosed cartoon cats who previously illustrated bouncy rhymes about parts of speech now take on addition. ""To add is to make bigger / the total number of / whatever you are counting up / like baseballs in a glove."" The rhymes scan roughly sometimes, and the examples aren't simple single-digit addition, but the zany cats are still amusing. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.