I really enjoyed this beginning math/subtraction book. Although geared towards elementary children, I think this book has potential for anyone struggling with the basics of addition and subtraction. Working with students from kindergarten through 6th grade and some struggling adult learners, I think this book is a gem.
What makes this book fantastic in my eyes, is the way the concepts are presented. There are great visuals displaying the information and fantastic ideas to help bring the concepts to life. Danica’s language that she uses to get her point across in this book is fabulous. I found this book entertaining and educational, and although some concepts she builds upon immediately, sometimes she leaves a concept and later comes back to it adding to it.
From adding basic numbers together to subtracting two-digit number, Danica shows how to do that visually and by reading this text, it seems as if she’s right there beside you. There’s a cute, little mouse as Danica sidekick in the book, who is reluctant to learn but with Danica’s help, he starts to learn and is successful.
There is a section on place value, fact families, mental math, regrouping, and then subtracting with borrowing. Like I mentioned before, she starts out basic and moves into more complex material but it’s a gradual shift. The books language is positive and in reading the book, it’s as if you had your own teacher right there with you explaining the concepts. I think using this book with a child would be very beneficial and for children who can read, the ability for them to work through this book on their own would be valuable and an accomplishment. There are games, exercises and lots of examples inside this book.
Thank you, Danica, for creating this book, what a terrific book teaching these concepts. I highly recommend checking out this book.
Excerpt: (how readable and positive the book’s language is) “Just so you know, the whole point in moving the buns to “fill in a tin” is so we can turn these problems into the easy ones we saw on the chart on page 26, like 10 + 5 = 15 and 10 + 6 + 16. By filling the tins wherever we can, we’ll be making the problems easy, like magic.”
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