Math by All Means, Place Value, Grade 2: The King's Commissioners

A delightful beginning for those learning the concepts of counting, addition, and the place value system encourages children to have fun while learning important math skills.

Grade 2-4?A confused king has appointed a commissioner to handle every problem in the kingdom from flat tires to chicken pox. Now he has no idea how many commissioners there are, and he orders his royal advisors to gather and count them as they walk through the door. The first advisor counts by twos, the second by fives, and the little princess by tens. Of course, they all arrive at the same answer. The king is utterly perplexed, but his daughter clears up the mystery and readers learn the value of multiplication. Guevara combines cartoon and primitive styles to create zany, exaggerated, brightly colored illustrations?the perfect complement to the silly story. The portrayal of the simpleminded king is especially amusing. The story is appropriate for whole-language units, home-schooling, or for anyone who wants to show the fun and useful role of math in everyday life. Ruby Dee's Two Ways to Count to Ten (Holt, 1990) and Kay Chorao's Number One Number Fun (Holiday, 1995) present math concepts for younger children in a story format.?Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, WI
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Guevara's (Chato's Kitchen, reviewed Feb. 2) zany, off-center paintings provide the chief point of interest in this Marilyn Burns Brainy Day book about a crew of numbskull number-crunchers. An addle-pated king has lost track of his various commissioners, what with separate functionaries in charge of Spilt Milk, Mismatched Socks, Wrong Turns, etc. So he and the Royal Advisors plan to convene the commissioners and count them. But the First Royal Advisor counts in groups of twos, the Second Royal Advisor counts by fives and the capable little Princess counts by tens, leaving the King more confused than ever. A long afterword to parents and teachers explains that the book aims "to stimulate children to think about the place value structure of our number system." While the text certainly functions as an animated introduction to mathematics and the illustrations almost burst with comic moments, the story itself is a limp one. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 5-7. In the habit of appointing a new royal commissioner whenever he has a problem, the king fears that his government may be getting too big and decides to count all his employees, with the help of two trusted advisors. Counting one by one, the king soon loses track. The first royal advisor, counting by twos, arrives at twenty-three twos plus one more. The second royal advisor, counting by fives, enumerates nine fives plus two more. The king is enraged by the discrepancy until his young daughter explains the concept of place value, reassuring him that everyone has correctly tallied 47 commissioners. Guevara's brightly colored acrylic paintings add humor to the text and will appeal to young listeners. An appended section for adults discusses mathematical concepts and suggests questions for use with children. See also other Marilyn Burns Brainy Day Books: The Greedy Triangle, by Burns, and A Cloak for the Dreamer, by Friedman [both in BKL F 1 95]. Kay Weisman