Double Those Wheels
PreSchool-Grade 2-Setting out to deliver pizza, an energetic monkey dressed in a red hat, bow tie, and shorts has problems from the start. His unicycle hits a rock, so he gets a bicycle. As each mode of transportation runs into difficulties, he moves on-to a car, tow truck, 16-wheeler, car carrier (with 32 wheels, counting the autos being transported), and train with 64 wheels. Finally, with a cow in the way, the monkey jumps into a hot-air balloon and the pizza arrives at a birthday party, "-on the dot.- good and hot!" The simple illustrations are bold, colorful, and humorous. Stuart J. Murphy's Double the Ducks (HarperCollins, 2003) is more complicated, and Loreen Leedy's sophisticated 2 X 2 = Boo! A Set of Spooky Multiplication Stories (Holiday, 1995) concerns multiplying other numbers in addition to two. Children who love vehicles will adore this book. The text is very simple, and the math lesson is painless. A fun choice for storytimes.Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland, ORCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.