A Bibliography compiled by Susan Stan Children who dislike math have usually been introduced to it as a decontextualized subject with no real purpose beyond getting the right answer. Words, numerical figures, flaps, human and animal characters, die cuts, and embossed circles all join in representing the numbers from different angles and perspectives. A trip through the market provides the chance for two young girls to buy everything they need for Mam s birthday, and Lavallee s stylized illustrations depict the many fine wares available in a typical Mexican market. The repetition of numbers in English and Spanish makes it easy for anyone to learn to count from one to ten uno a diez in both languages. A sister, dressed as a magician, conjures up ten different sets of imaginative things, one after the other, but her little brother only wants one.
Readers see why, in the end, as one very real puppy emerges from the magician s box.
Anyone who has ever counted steps going upstairs or telephone poles passing a moving vehicle will admire Jennie s ability to keep track of several sets of numbers simultaneously. The circus comes to town, bringing acts of animals in groups that are constantly changing. Answers appear in balloons in every page. The lush splendor of a coral reef provides the setting for counting, adding, and subtracting as sea creatures move in and out of view, sometimes swimming away and other times becoming another creature s lunch. The text introduces the creatures and describes their numbers, and elsewhere on the page the same information is noted numerically.