Missing Math: A Number Mystery
Kindergarten-Grade 2—Imagine a world without numbers. Madly trying to replace them, but to no avail, two-dimensional, wide-eyed, nattily dressed animals cavort on brightly colored pages, conversing in rhyme about how pervasive and needed numbers are. Adding, subtracting, scoring games-neither winners nor losers can be chosen in sporting matches and elections. Money has no value, and the questions and confusions about postage, addresses, calendars, time, age, library-book due dates, telephone numbers, computers, calculators, heights, and weights grow. The story concludes with the culprit revealing himself—a numbers thief, armed with a vacuum, sucking up all of the numerals in his attempt to make the longest number to reach infinity. The animals celebrate once the numbers have been returned. Yet, the library books are overdue, and the judge offers a punishment that will seem illogical to readers. Still, children will enjoy locating the hidden numbers and brainstorming the countless ways numbers are important in their world.—Marian Creamer, Children's Literature Alive, Portland, ORCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.