Pie for Piglets: Counting by Twos(Know Your Numbers)

Introduces counting by twos as piglets make the perfect pie. Readers are invited to find hidden numbers on an illustrated activity page.

About the Author :
Michael Dahl is the prolific author of the bestselling Goodnight, Baseball picture book and more than 200 other books for children and young adults. He has won the AEP Distinguished Achievement Award three times for his nonfiction, a Teacher's Choice award from Learning magazine, and a Seal of Excellence from the Creative Child Awards. Dahl currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Review :
Know Your Numbers is a delightful series for young children that can be used to introduce kindergarten students to skip counting. The books can also be used in a shared reading or a read-aloud for first graders, or for independent reading or guided reading groups. The books can be used as independent readers at the beginning of second grade as well. I used these books with kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders, and all the children enjoyed them. This series lends itself nicely for integrating mathematics with reading. The text is large enough that each book can be used as if it were a big book. The books are great as a read-aloud to start a mathematics lesson. Teachers should allow time for the children to discuss the book, the children will be eager to share the connections that they have with the story and to relate the mathematics concepts that they see. The format for the series includes predictable text and a growing pattern. The amount on each page is shown in dots and numbers, and the number is hidden in the illustrations. When reading the books in a small-group setting, some children did have difficulty reading the number words in all capital letters. After the second reading, however, they better understood the pattern and could read the capitalized number words with ease. The illustrations are done in collage. They are bright and appealing, and they nicely support the text. The font appears to be handwriting; children will point this out. Children will want to read these books over and over again. They can make their own versions of the books to help them with skip counting by fives. At the end of each book are some fun facts, a Web site, an explanation of where to find the missing numbers hidden in the illustrations, and a list of other books in the series. I would recommend this series of books for any primary-grade teacher.-- "Teaching Children Mathematics, NCTM" Pie for Piglet and Lots of Ladybugs, by Michael Dahl, are brightly colored books filled with counting activities. The main activity in the lady bug book is counting by fives, displayed through five spots on the back of each ladybug. As each page is turned, an additional ladybug with five black spots is found doing a variety of daily activities. IN the book on piglets, it is counting by twos. In the piglet book, a male and female piglet are shown making a pie. The number of each ingredient on each page matches the multiple of two presented. For example, four sticks of butter are shown on the second page, since four is a multiple of two. Each book enables children to count up to the tenth multiple by eacher two or five. Each page gives the number written in words and the number and the corresponding number of dots in a rectangle. An additional benefit on each page turned is a picture of the previous rectangle with numbers and dots and the current rectangle with numbers and added dots. This apporach allows the children to count from the beginning to the number on the current page, creating repetition. In each book, on page 24 (the final page), the author lists five fun facts regarding the animal of the book's title. IN the ladybug book, an example is Ladybugs are usually red or orange. But they can also be red, yellow, gray black, blue or pink. An example in the piglet book is Pigs and hippopotamuses are cousins. An additional activity on each of the pages is called Find the Numbers. In each picture shown, children can find hidden a multiple of two or five, depending on the book chosen. On page 24, Dahl lists where the hidden numbers can be found on each page. Finally, children are given the address of a Web site on the last page: www.facthound.com. By going to this site, children can find additional Web sites related to each book. Also, there is a printable lesson plan, and whisper counting and musical multiplication are introduced. These two books are part of the author's Know Your Numbers series. I recommend them highly for preschoolers and for teachers or parents of children in the lower elementary school grades who are interested in giving students an early start in the basic principles of multiplication. The books are educational and have good sentence structure. Each page has vivid cut-out style picture that will intrigue any youngster. Best Books for Children 2005-- "Science Books & Films" Three books designed to reinforce the concept of counting by twos to 20. While the text for Footprints is rather repetitive and uninspired, Eggs and Pie deliver lively and interesting story lines. These books follow the same organization, with each page depicting the number as part of the text, as a series of dots, and as a numeral cleverly hidden within the illustration. The boldly colored cartoons practically leap off the page and provide effective picture clues. Young readers will also appreciate the appended Fun Facts sections that relate bits of trivia (such as pigs are considered one of the world's smartest animals) in an easy-to-read format.-- "School Library Journal"