Counting by Kangaroos: A Multiplication Concept Book

The arrival of Australian animals including kangaroos, wombats, koalas, quokkas, and many others teaches simple multiplication

Kindergarten-Grade 3-This title works too hard to make math fun. Rhyming text and funky illustrations of Australian animals set the stage for a counting/multiplication game. Three kangaroos arrive at the home of Fae and Sue wearing 1, 2, 3 hats and 2, 4, 6 shoes. Then, "hippity, hoppity, boppity, bee," they make themselves at home while the multiple animals in their pouches take over. So many spring out that Sue must open a zoo. Somewhere in the messy visual designs full of dots and lines and big-eyed creatures, children may get lost. Or else the thought of 8, 16, and 24 "nimble numbats" emerging from three kangaroo pouches might turn them off entirely. With concept books such as Jon Scieszka's Math Curse (Viking, 1995) available, there's no need to bother with Hulme's.
Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.