Polar Bear Math : Learning About Fractions From Klondike and Snow

From School Library Journal Grade 1-5-Following the lives of two cubs that were born at the Denver Zoo and abandoned by their mother, this book provides information about polar bears and fractions. Right-hand pages tell the story of Snow and Klondike, with excellent, full-color photos showing how zoo personnel raised them from newborns until their first birthday. On each left-hand page, a lesson on fractions incorporates data about the animals. The explanations, which combine text with pictographs, are clear and well formulated. The first lesson, for example, defines fractions and their parts, and compares the one-third of polar bear mothers that have twins with the two-thirds that have single births. Other lessons deal with preparing formula for the cubs, milk consumption, hours in a day, and polar bear weight. Although this title would be helpful as reinforcement for youngsters who have had some prior exposure to these concepts, those unfamiliar with fractions are unlikelyto grasp the ideas without some adult guidance. However, readers can appreciate Snow and Klondike's interesting history without reading the other sections. This thoroughly enjoyable offering has many worthwhile features, and teachers and children alike can make good use of it. Lesley A. DuTemple's Polar Bears (Lerner, 1997) provides more details about these animals, while David A. Adler's Fraction Fun (Holiday, 1996) teaches the basic principles in a slightly less technical way than Nagda and Bickel's volume.-Lynda Ritterman, Atco Elementary School, Waterford, NJ Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.