Teddy Bear Subtraction: (6 McGrath Math)

As the McGrath Math series continues, the cute and bouncy teddies introduce subtraction to young readers. Great for in-class use with popular bear manipulatives, simple verse and bright colors make math and subtraction as easy as 3-2-1!

About the Author :
Barbara McGrath has written over twenty books for children, including McGrath Math- Teddy Bear Math and The Little Green Witch. After graduating from Lasell College with a degree in Early Childhood Education, Barbara opened a preschool where she taught four-to-five-year olds for sixteen years. The educational philosophy was to make learning fun and interesting. The children enjoyed many different ways to learn counting, letters and numbers and experienced hands-on art and science projects. While teaching, Barbara was also a freelance writer for local newspapers. Her love for writing, children, and making learning fun was the inspiration for her first children's book, The M&M Brand Chocolate Candies Counting Book, which sold over one million copies. In addition to writing for children, Barbara also finds time to write public interest articles for newspapers. She lives near Boston, Massachusetts. Tim Nihoff is the illustrator of Otter Everywhere(Candlewick). He is also a graphic designer and sculptor who creates toys, furniture, and other "fun fine art" from found objects. Tim lives and works on a small island in Maine.

Review :
Brightly colored, uncluttered page illustrations support understanding and practice of subtraction in both units and tens. Friendly faced gummy-bear-like creatures make up sets of blue, yellow, purple, red, green, and orange teddies, which are all big enough on hte page that little ones can easily point and count to solve each problem. Each color contains a different number to allow for discussion of less than and more than as well as equal. Every equation is clearly presented both visually in groups of bears, complete with trails of little paw prints to indicate which ones have left, as well as numerically and verbally. Carryin gfrom tens to units and checking subtraction through addition round out this approachable introduction. Well suited both to the very young who are interested in numbers already and learners in early grades who need some visual support to crack subtraction, this simple picture book's rhyming scheme adds just the right level of mnemonic enhancement ot reassure young mathphobes that hte rules can be simple to learn and retain. —Booklist