PICTURE BOOK - Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream: A Mathematical Story by Cindy Neuschwander

Illustrated by Liza Woodruff
Math activities by Marilyn Burns

1998, Scholastic Press

for K - 3
available at Bosler Library N-bins

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.08 - 171 ratings

My rating:3.5

Endpapers:  rolling hills with helmeted sheep riding bicycles

Illustrations go from edge-of-page to edge-of-page.  Look like pen & ink drawings that heave been colored with water color.  Very nice, simple

1^st line/s:  "I am Amanda Bean and I love math.  I know all about counting.  I am very good at it.  I can count by ones, twos, fives, and tens.  I can add up anything.  The kids at school call me Bean Counter."

My comments:  Simple book that introduces the concept of multiplying, that it is easier than adding or counting.  Excellent introduction.  Ends with three pages of activities/ideas to extend kids' learning about multiplication, but Marilyn Burns, mathematics idea guru extraordinaire.

Goodreads:  Amanda Bean loves to count everything, from the books in the library to the popcorn in her bowl. If only she could count faster! Her teacher tries to persuade her of the virtues of multiplication, but Amanda remains unconvinced--until she has an amazing dream. Full color

PICTURE BOOK - Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money by Emily Jenkins

Illustrated by G. Brian Karas

2012, a Schwartz & Wae Book

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.68 - 595 ratings

My rating: 4

Endpapers:  solid pinky beige

1^st line/s:   "An empty street.
                    Outside, a mean wind blows.
                    Icicles hang from the windowsills.

My comments:  Another math picture book, and it's cute.  The illustrations, by G. Brian Karas are fun to peruse.  A little girl and her younger brother decide to purchase ingredients, make lemonade (and limeade and lemon-limeade) and sell it outside in the blizzard.  There's all sorts of math having to do with quarters and how they add up, how much they spend, and how much they make.  They even have to come up with marketing and advertising ideas!  Nice for first and second ... and perhaps some third graders, too.

Goodreads:  In a starred review, Publishers Weekly declared this delightful picture book "a beautifully restrained tribute to trust and tenderness shared by siblings; an entrepreneurship how-to that celebrates the thrill of the marketplace without shying away from its cold realities; and a parable about persistence."  
          A lemonade stand in winter? Yes, that's exactly what Pauline and John-John intend to have, selling lemonade and limeade--and also lemon-limeade. With a catchy refrain (Lemon lemon LIME, Lemon LIMEADE! Lemon lemon LIME, Lemon LEMONADE!), plus simple math concepts throughout, here is a read-aloud that's great for storytime and classroom use, and is sure to be a hit among the legions of Jenkins and Karas fans. 

PICTURE BOOK - A Very Improbable Story by Edward Einhorn

Illustrated by Adam Gustavson

2008, Charlesbridge

HC $16.95

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.99 - 94 ratings

My rating:  4

Endpapers: Dark blue

Illustrations on much or most of page, text is on white

1^st line/s:  "one morning Ethan woke up with a cat on his head."

My comments:   Oh my gosh, what a great picture book to introduce probability to older kids!  It's cute and fun and gives wonderful mathematical information in a straight-forward, interesting way.  It gets a little convoluted at the end, but if it's being used as a read aloud, stress and pausing  can be used  effectively, and then play a probability game similar to one described in the book and VOILA!!

Goodreads:  Ethan wakes up one morning with a talking cat on his head. The cat refuses to budge until Ethan wins a game of probability. Without looking, Ethan must pick out a dime from his coin collection, or two matching socks from his dresser, or do something else improbable. Avery improbable story about a challenging math concept. Author: Edward Einhorn Format: 32 pages, paperback Ages: 7-10

PICTURE BOOK - Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford

Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska

2012, Carolrhoda Books, Minneapolis (a division of Lerner Books)

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.99 - 814 rtings

My rating: 4

Endpapers endless numbers black on gray

1^st line/s:  "The night I got my new red shoes, I couldn't wait to wear them to school."

My comments:  Infinity has always been a tough concept for me to wrap my mind around.  In this book, a little girl inquires of different people what they think of when they think of infinity.  The illustrations are really interesting and different.  I'm planning to use this book as the perfect  introduction to a quick program for kids that's an inquiry about infinity.

Goodreads:   When I looked up, I shivered. How many stars were in the sky? A million? A billion? Maybe the number was as big as infinity. I started to feel very, very small. How could I even think about something as big as infinity? Uma can't help feeling small when she peers up at the night sky. She begins to wonder about infinity. Is infinity a number that grows forever? Is it an endless racetrack? Could infinity be in an ice cream cone? Uma soon finds that the ways to think about this big idea may just be . . . infinite.