Carrie A Pearson ~ Closing of Author Event

A Warm Winter Tail
by Carrie A Pearson
$ 9.95   (paperback)
$ 17.95 (hardback)
Click here to Order


We are closing out our Sylvan Dell Publishing & Carrie A Pearson week on CCB. Be sure to read my review of Long Winters Tail and the interview I had with her. Today Sylvan Dell has provided a couple of fun activities and a link to even MORE activities for you to extend you lesson into migration and Winter Life.

Remember each book published through Sylvan Dell provides 4-5 pages of Fun activities in the back of the book to extend what your children are learning in the book. You can also go online and find another 40 pages of puzzles, math & science activities (matching, charting, experiments, etc) and more. 

Click here for the Learning Activities for Long Winters Tail.

To close out our week, Sylvan Dell is offering to FREE activities for kids to do. One is a coloring sheet for the younger kids and the other is a math activity about the migration of monarch butterflies. 

 

More Monarch Activities

Enter the Giveaway for 1 of 3 copies of 

Long Winters Tail by Carrie A Pearson!

A Warm Winter's Tale ~ Author Week: Carrie A. Pearson

The next few days we are focusing on a NEW Children's Author on CCB. Carrie A Pearson has written a wonderful book "A Warm Winter Tail" and published it through one of my favorite publishers: Sylvan Dell Publishing. Be sure to visit this week - we'll have a fun activity or two for your family or classroom to enjoy, a mini interview with Carrie and possibly a giveaway. Read on: A Warm Winter's Week
by Carrie A. Pearson
Illustrated by Christina Wald
$9.95 (softcover) 9781607185383
$17.95 (hardcover) 9781607186809
(Click title to order)

About the Book:
Do you ever wonder how animals stay warm in the winter? Well, they wonder how humans do too! In a twist of perspective, wild creatures question if humans use the same winter adaptation strategies that they do. Do they cuddle together in a tree or fly south to Mexico? Take a look through an animal’s eyes and discover the interesting ways animals cope with the cold in this rhythmic story.

My Thoughts:
A Warm Winter's Tale begins with a very important question:

"How do humans keep warm in the winter, Mama?"

and goes on to describe how various animals keep warm in the winter. Your child will learn about red foxes, box turtles, black capped chickadees, black bears, deer, honeybees, squirrels, monarch butterflies, mice, frogs, hummingbirds, and humans. The pictures are descriptive, interpretive and encourage conversation and learning about the world animals live in. It's a wonderful opportunity to extend the lesson in the book and talk about how God created each animal to protect itself from it's environment, keep it warm in the winter and even what they eat. Each page also includes a small vignette showing a human child trying to stay warm like the animal on that page. An example would be: a human mother and 2 kids cuddled up in a nest to stay warm while the family of squirrels who live in a drey cuddle up in a nest of leaves.

At the end of the book is a wonderful section about animals and how they adapt in the winter. Full of fun facts hibernation, what kind of food they eat & do they gather nuts to eat in the winter, do they grow thicker fur or do their bodies freeze up under the water? There is also a great animal matching and also another 40 pages or so online that you can download. Teaching Activities

This book is wonderful for kids 3 and up. The text is easy to read and even catches the younger 3 year olds attention with it's simplicity. Older children are able to look for details and discuss what they see and hear and even use what they've learned during their play. It would be really cute as a play for children to do.

About the Author:
Carrie A. (Ann) Pearson is originally from Hillsdale, Michigan, and now lives in Marquette, Michigan on the sandy shore of Lake Superior. A former early elementary teacher, she is an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and is the winner of the coveted SCBWI-Michigan Picture Book Mentorship Award. Her nonfiction work has appeared in Michigan History Magazine. Currently she is working on several picture book manuscripts as well as an historical novel for middle grade readers set in an abandoned orphanage. Along with her husband and their three daughters (and their two Labradoodles), she hikes, bikes, runs, and skis in the woods, windsurfs, kayaks, stand-up paddles, and swims in the chilly water and writes about what she experiences around her. The idea for A Warm Winter Tail, her debut picture book, came from an encounter with a whitetail deer on a wintry day. Stop by Carrie’s website www.carriepearsonbooks.com to learn about her school and library visits or view her school visit flyer.

WIN 1 of 3 Copies of A Warm Winter Tail!

Today we are starting our Author Section featuring Carrie A Pearson & Sylvan Dell is offering a copy of A Warm Winter Tail to 3 of our readers! Are you ready? This giveaway will run until Sunday night (Nov 11) @ Midnight - Good luck!

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Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of A Warm Winter Tail to read and review on CCB. I was not required to write a positive review and no money exchanged hands.

New Titles from Sylvan Dell Publishing ~ Part 2

Well, I just realized about 17 hours after this went live I didn't finish the post. So sorry about that guys. =D

  

New Titles Fall 2012 ~ Non Fiction

(Click on the PIC to Order)

Sylvan Dell has released 6 new Fall Titles - 3 of them are a fiction story that teaches basic math & science skills through the story. As always there are 4-5 pages of activities in the back including teachers/parents tips and online you can find another 40 pages or so of more in-depth activities for science, math, language, etc (puzzles, worksheets, experiments, math and more). You can find a partial trailer for each book online as an ebook. Each month Sylvan Dell Publishing has one book available for you to read with your child online in Spanish & English and the teacher's guide/activities also available in Spanish.

Please stay tuned later this week for our review of A Warm Winter's Tale ~ there'll be a review, a fun activity for you and your kids to do and possibly a giveaway. =D

Desert Baths
by Darcy Pattison
ISBN: 9781607185345 (paperback) $9.95
ISBN: 9781607186762 (hardcover) $17.95
32 pg, 10 X 8.5, ages 4-8, Lexile: AD 870
Order Here


About the book:
All animals bathe to keep their bodies clean and healthy. Humans might use soap and water, but what do animals, especially those living in dry climates, do to keep clean? Darcy Pattison and Kathleen Rietz team up again to explore the desert to find out how snakes, spiders, and birds bathe. This surprising book teaches children about hygiene and how some exciting desert creatures manage to stay clean without the help of soap and water.

My thoughts: This story talks about the many many ways animals groom and bathe themselves in the desert - there are sand baths, water baths, sun baths, dew baths, and more. With some of the animals you hear about where they live, what they eat and how they move. Desert Baths is the perfect book for kids who want to know everything about how animals live. The pictures in the book are very informative about desert life and will open up many discussions with your kids. Preview: eBook  Order Here

Animal Helpers: Wildlife Rehabilitators
by Jennifer Keats Curtis

ISBN: 9781607186724 (paperback) $9.95
ISBN: 9781607186717 (hardcover) $17.95
Order Here


About the book:
Like humans, animals can get sick or hurt. People see doctors. Pets have veterinarians. What happens to wild animals when they are injured, become ill, or are orphaned? Often, wildlife rehabilitators are called to their rescue. This photographic journal takes readers “behind the scenes” at four different wildlife rehabilitation centers. Fall in love with these animals as they are nursed back to health and released back to the wild when possible. This is the first of a photographic series introducing the different ways and the many people who care for a wide variety of animals.

My Thoughts: Wildlife Rehabilitators - we never did manage to get through with the kids. I think it was just a little over a very young 3 and 5 year olds head and they lost interest after the first few pages. It would be a great book for perhaps 1st grade and up - especially if the kids are needing to write a report or learn about something for a project. 

What I loved about this book is how they explain the difference between a vet and a rehabilitator, explain how when they find an animal that needs help they feed it, care for it and then release it. They also explain what happens when they find a baby animal that's abandoned or orphaned. I could see a kid interested in animals, learning to be a vet would love this book. Preview: eBook  Order Here


Solar System Forecast
by Kelly Kizer Whitt
ISBN: 9781607185321 (paperback) $9.95
ISBN: 9781607186786 (hardcover) $17.95
Order Here

About the book:
Freezing temperatures, scorching heat, and a storm bigger than planet Earth is just some of the wild weather you will encounter on your trip through our solar system! Get your fun facts along with your forecast for each major planet, as well as the weather on dwarf planet Pluto, and Saturn's moon Titan. Any child with an interest in space is sure to love Solar System Forecast, and parents will love the educational “For Creative Minds” section in the back of the book. Get ready for some out of this world fun with Solar System Forecast!

My thoughts:
This is another book for older children - I'd say 5 1/2 and up. Connor wasn't ready for it yet bet I think he will be soon. I personally loved how this book talks about the weather conditions on all the planets in the solar system beginning with Mercury and going all the way to Pluto. There is a weather forecaster who advises the kids as though they are travelers across the solar system and the pictures actually show what the planet looks like (they are illustrated not actual pictures) - mars shows an orange planet and explains that it has pink sunsets, Saturn has mountains (they almost look like volcano's) and so on. This is a really neat book and if you have a child interested in outer space, aliens, the planets and moon - this would be a perfect book for them. Preview: eBook Order Here

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of each of these books to read and review on CCB. I was not required to have a positive review and no money exchanged hands.

New Fall Titles for Sylvan Dell Publishing!

   

New Fall Titles 2012

(Click PIC of Book to order)

Sylvan Dell has released 6 new Fall Titles - 3 of them are a fiction story that teaches basic math & science skills through the story. As always there are 4-5 pages of activities in the back including teachers/parents tips and online you can find another 40 pages or so of more in-depth activities for science, math, language, etc (puzzles, worksheets, experiments, math and more). You can find a trailer for each book online. Each month Sylvan Dell Publishing has one book available for you to read with your child online in Spanish & English and the teacher's guide/activities also available in Spanish.

Please stay tuned later this week for our review of A Warm Winter's Tale ~ there'll be a review, a fun activity for you and your kids to do and possibly a giveaway. =D

The Most Dangerous

by Terri Fields

ISBN: 9781607185352 (softcover) $9.95

ISBN: 9781607186779 (hardcover) $17.95

32 pg, 10 x 8.5, ages 4-8, Lexile: AD 650

Order Here

About the book:

Dangerous animals from all over the world gather for the Most Dangerous Animal of All Contest. Snakes, spiders, sharks . . . who will the winner be? Deadly poison, huge teeth, razor -sharp horns, and fearsome feet are just a few of the ways that animals kill. Predators mean to kill. Prey simply defend themselves. And yet, the unexpected most deadly-animal doesn’t mean to harm at all!

My Thoughts:

I was a little concerned about this book when I read it through the first time. Sierra tends to get scared of things that aren't familiar (like giant fake spiders on the wall at Mangelson's for Halloween decorations - we had to leave the store). I decided though to go ahead and read it and see how she reacted during the telling of the story. Connor loved the book of course and I think he helped her feel more secure listening to it since he didn't seem scared. The story is about several animals & reptiles from around the world ~ they're dangerous and bad ~ and they know it. During a contest for The Most Dangerous Creature on Earth and in the Sea they brag and tell why they are The Most Dangerous and during the telling you can see the judging panel get more afraid through their facial expressions and reactions to each. When it looks like there are no other contenders one more creature - the smallest the eye can see (at least at this event) - comes forward.

The book teaches kids about why animals can be dangerous, about the animals habitat, lifestyle and why we need to be careful around them. We didn't really get into a discussion about this book ~ I need to get it out again and try and get a conversation going. It would be a good opportunity to talk about safety around animals. You could also make a list with the kids of the different animals in the book and see if you can find them at the zoo so they can see them, learn about what they eat, etc.

The Tree That Bear Climbed

by Marianne Berkes
ISBN: 9781607185376 (softcover) $9.95
ISBN: 9781607186793 (hardcover) $17.95
Order Here


About the Book:
Everyone knows about the house that Jack built, but this is The Tree That Bear Climbed. What makes this tree so fascinating to bear? Starting with the roots that anchor the tree, this chain of events story in cumulative verse explores many different things that help a tree stand tall. It also lends itself to further discussion with fun repetition and detailed picture clues, stimulating a child’s curiosity. Why does the bear climb the tree and what happens when he arrives at his goal?

My Thoughts:
My kids love this book. The story is very repetitive and familiar to the ear. The pictures are huge and really get the kids involved in the story. Usually when I read a story like this I hand it to the kids when I'm done and both Sierra (3) & Connor (5) will try their hand at "retelling" the story. During our reading of the story we talk about the parts & the various needs of a tree - there is the soil, the sun, rain, blossoms, leaves and so on making this a great beginning science book for kids 3 and up. 

Activity:
Art Projects for Kids has a fun activity you can do with your kids. Click Here

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of The Tree That Bear Climbed and The Most Dangerous from Sylvan Dell Publishing to read and review on CCB. I was not required to write a positive review and no money exchanged hands.

Sylvan Dell Giveaway Rafflecopter

Children's Book Week Giveaway Hop

May 7th - 13th

Hosted by 

KidLitFrenzy, Classic Children's Books, 

Mymcbooks & I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

One of the sponsor's of the 93rd annual Children's Book Weeks is Sylvan Dell Publishing. They have very generously offered ONE of my readers a copy of all 5 of Sylvan Dell's Spring Releases!

You can read my review of these books HERE.

One lucky winner will WIN:

    

Note:
To enter a contest on Classic Children's Books you may be required to Follow Me on Linky Followers. You can sign up for Linky Followers for FREE here - it's very similar to GFC so you shouldn't have any problems using it. =D







a Rafflecopter giveaway

2nd Annual Children's Book Week -

Children's Book Week Giveaway Hop

May 7th - 13th

Hosted by 

KidLitFrenzy, Classic Children's Books, 

Mymcbooks & I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

This year I will have 2 packages with 2 different age groups. Due to the requirement of having just a few entries I have separated them into 2 different giveaways using Rafflecopter. You can enter 1 or both giveaways. =D Can I hear a Yipee!?

Package #1: Value $50

5 NEW Spring Titles from Sylvan Dell Publishing!

    

Each of the titles from Sylvan Dell are award winning books designed to teach children Math & Science concepts through a FUN fiction story. Each includes 4-6 pages of activities (they can be tweaked for younger children) and you can also download an additional 40 pages of activities which are ideal for homeschools & classroom activities. Teachers & parents love these books & kid's can't get enough of them!

Package #2: Value $13.25

The Luckless Prince

by Rie Sheridan Rose

Middle Grade Fiction

(age 12+ approximately)

Rie very generously offered a copy of The Luckless Prince so we can include the Middle Grade genre in our Giveaway event. Last year I reviewed The Luckless Prince and loved it ~ This year I included it in a very short list of my favorite Children's Books of 2011 (I've read it 3 times already & am anxiously awaiting book #2!)  

Read my review here

Be sure to visit the other blogs participating in the 2nd Annual Children's Books Week Blog Hop! Thank You!

5 great new books for kids! Sylvan Dell Publishing

~ Book Review

This month I will be featuring Preschool & a few baby books on Classic Children's Books and today I will be sharing 5 wonderful new books from Sylvan Dell Publishing. Each of these fiction stories are math & science based and include activities for children to do to help them learn more about the animal, their habitat, the food they eat and how they live. Enjoy!

Be sure to come back on May 6th when Sylvan Dell & I will be hosting a giveaway and one lucky winner will win all 5 of these awesome books!

Sylvan Dell Publishing ~ Spring New Releases

Home in the Cave
by Janet Halfmann
ISBN: 9781607185314
$9.95 (paperback) $17.95 (hardback)

About the Book:
Baby Bat loves his cave home and never wants to leave it. While practicing flapping his wings one night, he falls, and Pluribus Packrat rescues him. They then explore the deepest, darkest corners of the cave where they meet amazing animals—animals that don’t need eyes to see or colors to hide from enemies. Baby Bat learns how important bats are to the cave habitat and how other cave-living critters rely on them for their food. Will Baby Bat finally venture out of the cave to help the other animals? Age 4-8 yrs

Baby Bat is adorable. There is nothing more to say - except that little kids are going love this story and I'm sure you are going to be reading it over and over. Home in the Cave is a good introduction to beginning science for 3-4 years old. While all the other baby bats are excitedly learning how to fly and talking about the adventures their moms are having while hunting in the cave - little Baby Bat gets more afraid as he imagines all the dangers and scary things that are out in the big world. One day he falls and lands on the cave floor where he learns that their are amazing things in the world and with the help of a blind rat he explores not only the cave but the big world outside.

(This one was easily my favorite of the 5 books that I reviewed although all of them were wonderful. The illustrations and the story are memorable and fun and will be a favorite of the children in your life.) 

Three Little Beavers
by Jean Heilprin Diehl
ISBN: 9781607185338
$9.95 (paperback) $17.95 (hardback)

About the Book:
Beatrix the beaver longs to be good at something. Her brother Bevan is an expert at repairing the lodge with mud and twigs. Her sister Beverly is a superb swimmer and underwater gymnast. What makes Beatrix stand out? One day, she runs away by swimming up the creek and finds some fresh garden plants to eat, and tasty trees to gnaw. When her siblings set off to find her, all Three Little Beavers wind up trapped! It takes some simple engineering on the part of the humans who set the traps, and Beatrix’s discovery of her special talents, for the people and beavers to finally find a way to live in harmony. Age 4-8 yrs

My Thoughts:
This is a cute story of 3 little beavers with 3 very different personalities. Two of the beavers are outgoing and do everything right and the last beaver is constantly asked "why can't you be like your brother & sister" (sound familiar?). Discouraged and sad Beatrix decides to run away and in the process discovers that her ability to stay calm and think during a bad situation will help her and her brother/sister get home again.

The Three Little Beavers is a great introduction to the river habitat and how Beavers help the environment and others by being persistent. Your children will learn what they eat, how they can see underwater when they swim, how and why they build dams, box trapping and why people use this method of trapping animals instead of killing these animals. 

I am in love with the illustrations in this book. Big, expressive and filled with emotion your children will connect with them immediately and will want to study each picture to see what's happening. Check it out:





Gopher to the Rescue
A Volcano Recovery Story
by Terry Catasus Jennings
ISBN: 9781607181415
$9.95 (paperback) $17.95 (hardback)

About the Book:
The forest animals are surprised when a volcano suddenly explodes, covering the land in gritty, warm ash and rocks that make it unlivable for many plants and animals. Gopher survives in his underground burrow with food to eat. How does Gopher help bring life back to the mountain? Scientists spent years observing life returning to the mountain following the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980. This fictionalized story is based on their surprising observations of how life returns to an area that has been totally changed or destroyed. Age 4-9 yrs

My Thoughts:
Gopher has a big job to do! Come learn how the forest, the animals and the ground recovers and heals when a Volcano erupts. I learned quite a bit as I read this book. You don't think about how long and what a major job it is for the environment to recover after a big event like a volcano erupts, a river floods or a forest fire occurs. 

Listen to: Gopher to the Recue
(in Spanish & English)

The book opens with the animals sensing that something is about to happen. Of course they don't know what it is but when the ground starts shaking and a loud BOOM happens they flee. Some of the animals don't make it and die and those that live underground (gophers, insects, worms, etc) continue on as though nothing happened. Gopher to the rescue does a wonderful job in walking children (and grownups too) through a timeline of the healing of the habitat, how the underground animals/insects dig tunnels and their waste feeds the earth to enrich it and help it grow new vegetation - as time goes by little by little animals and other creatures begin to return.

A wonderful book that older preschoolers will enjoy. Early elementary children will enjoy it also and there are activities and explanations about what volcanoes are and why they erupt, natural disasters and habitat changes.

The Great Divide
by Suzanne Slade
ISBN: 9781607185307
$9.95 (paperback) $17.95 (hardback)

About the Book:
Animals, like people, enjoy spending time with their friends and family. Many groups of animals have their own unique names. Did you know that a group of gorillas is called a band? And a bunch of billy goats is a tribe? Following in the footsteps of Multiply on the Fly (multiplication), What’s New at the Zoo? (addition) and What’s the Difference? (subtraction), this rhythmic, fun-to-read-aloud book introduces children to division as they conquer bands, tribes, mobs and more.

My Thoughts:
The Great Divide is a great addition to Sylvan Dell's Math series. Each of the books has a wonderful story/verse that teaches children through story problems how to answer math problems. Check this out:

Nine hungry leopards 

waking up from sleep.

Three groups are on the prowl.

How many in each leap?

With this story problem your children learn: the name of the animal group (leap), how many leopards, what the leopards & the picture shows them the type of habitat they live in: snow, hills, the leopards coloring allows them to blend in with the snow somewhat for protection while hunting.

The Penguin Lady
by Carol A Cole
ISBN: 9781607185369
$9.95 (paperback) $17.95 (hardback)

About the Book:
Penelope Parker lives with penguins! Short ones, tall ones; young and old—the penguins are from all over the Southern Hemisphere including some that live near the equator! Do the penguin antics prove too much for her to handle? Children count and then compare and contrast the different penguin species as they learn geography. Age 4-9 yrs

My Thoughts:
This one is a cute book for preschoolers and it's all about penguins.  There are lots of counting penguins, seeing what penguins eat, if they like it cold or warm ~ and lots and lots of black & white in this book! This one was probably my least favorite of the 5 books I've listed here but it's still a cute book that I think younger kids will enjoy and kids who can read should enjoy reading about animals that most kids like to learn about. I will tell you though that many of the words (Rockhopper, Galapagos Islands will be tough for beginning readers who need to sound out words as they go).


About all the books in the Sylvan Dell Publishing line:
1. All books in this series include 4-5 pages of activities to encourage kids to learn more about the subject in the book. There will be math, science, habitats, foods animals eat, what they need to survive and much much more!
2. All books have a Teacher's Guide with an additional 40 pages online. Just click here, find the book you own, and click on the teachers guide on the right hand side of the screen. 
3. There are book quizzes, book flyers, author interviews, related websites, how the book aligns to standards in the 50 States and much more on the website also.
4. You can also preview many books online in both Spanish and English.


Announcement:

Sylvan Dell Publishing  will be offering all 70 eBooks on their site license FREE from May 7^th through May 13^th.  This is a great opportunity for you to see what a book is about. Click the picture above to go to the website. =D

Ready, Set.... WAIT!

Ready, Set.... WAIT!
Sylvan Dell Publishing is offering Ready, Set…WAIT! free on their website for the next few days to help parents and educators teach children about hurricanes. Ready, Set…WAIT! deals with what costal animals do before a storm hits. Of course, it has our free educational section in the back and tons of teaching activities, quizzes, and related websites on book’s homepage. 

CLICK HERE



There are fun teaching activities that parents & teachers can use to help kids understand what a hurricane is and what kids can do....

• Animal Card Games
• Charades
• Math Card Games
• Pre-reading Questions
• Writing Prompts
• Comprehension Questions
• Vocabulary & Science Activities
• and more....

Click here for teaching activities!

Did you know that all of Sylvan Dell's books include a 4-5 page activity guide in the back of the book AND another 40 pages of activities ONLINE? Cool!

Books That Teach Math!

Sylvan Dell Publishing has a wonderful line of fiction books that teach science, social science and math skills through a great fiction story. You'll find rhyme, a great story, some seek & finds and lots of activities to expand the knowledge your children learn from the book.

Ten For Me

by Barbara Mariconda
Illustrated by: Sherry Rogers
Age 3-8, Grade level P-3
Includes 4 pages of activities & more online!
Available on Amazon for $8:95

Ten For Me is a fun fiction story perfect for introducing younger readers to addition and using rhythm and repetition for all ages to help them learn basic math facts.

Rose & Ed (two adorable kids your kids will identify with) decide to go out and catch butterflies, armed with their butterfly nets, little cages and Rose's handy little book about butterflies. Each day each child catches a different amount of butterflies and they add them up to see who has the most. As each day goes on Rose gets more and more down until suddenly she starts to catch more than Ed!

Using Rose's book about butterflies they learn about the lifecycle of butterflies, what they eat and they also keep a tally of the number of butterflies they catch and release (this is something YOUR kids can do too). The story is told in a fun little rhyming format and your kid's will quickly start repeating the addition part as you read it aloud.

That second day out still wasn't much fun

cause' Ed netted nine and I netted one!

How many in all? Let's add them again.

"Well, 9+1=10!" Ed said. "9+1=10!"

Each day the total number of butterflies adds up to 10 butterflies, so your kids will learn their addition from 1-10 very easily.  The only way I would of liked to see this done differently was to do: Well, "9+1=10"! Ed said, "1+9=10!" That way kids could see it done both ways - (there is nothing stopping you from reading it this way if you'd like) - and that it is the same both ways, it just looks different.

Multiply on the Fly

by Suzanne Slade

Illustrated by Erin E Hunter

Age 4-9, Grade Level P-4
Includes 4 pages of activities & more online!
Available from Amazon for $8.95

This fun book also uses insects to learn math. This time we learn about multiplying. Opening with fireflies and the rhyme:

Nine Brilliant Fireflies

Twinkle in the Dark

Glowing Lights Flash On and Off

How Many in the Park?

Your kids will count eyes, legs bubbles from a spittlebug, dots on ladybugs and even more. In this case your kids will count 9 fireflies for the answer to the problem. Full spread pictures, a fun rhyme on each page and a visual of how the math problem looks (9x1=9) enable your child to actually count with their eyes and fingers to visualize the problem.

There are many ways to use these books for kids - counting, seek and find, learning about bug parts, life cycles, comparing and for older kids - multiplying and graphing. Both of these books include activity pages in the back of the book. Most of the activities are for older preschool to elementary children, but you can also tweak them to use them with younger kids around 4+, and if you make them visual using manipulatives and full color flashcards w/ pictures I'd think 4-5 year olds would do find with some of the charting and graphing type exercises. Each book also has another 40 pages or so of activities online to look at too (everything from puzzles to discussion questions).

Both are great books for teaching basic math to your kids. Be sure to go to Sylvan Dell Publishing to see what else they can offer your family, classroom or homeschool program.