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Spatial Math for Little Ones -- Two New Books

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

It's a mystery!

Twins Lia and Luís have received a secret puzzle from their grandma! Can they put it together to read the hidden message? A playful exploration of geometry and sorting featuring Brazilian American characters and a glossary of Brazilian Portuguese words.

Storytelling Math celebrates children using math in their daily adventures as they play, build, and discover the world around them. Joyful stories and hands-on activities make it easy for kids and their grown-ups to explore everyday math together. Developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education nonprofit TERC, under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.



Caldecott Honoree Grace Lin celebrates math for every kid, everywhere!

The chickens have laid their eggs all over the yard! Mei looks for the eggs, searching next to a watering can, behind a flower pot, inside a wheelbarrow . . . and under a chicken! Go on a springtime egghunt in this playful story about spatial sense.

Storytelling Math celebrates children using math in their daily adventures as they play, build, and discover the world around them. Joyful stories and hands-on activities make it easy for kids and their grown-ups to explore everyday math together. Developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education nonprofit TERC, under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation."

As a math teacher, I am always interested to see what math books are out there even for little ones. Today I get to share with you two new (being released this week and next week) books that start teaching spatial mathematics to little ones. One is a picture book and one is a board book. The first book, being released this week, is Lia & Luis: Puzzled! by Ana Crespo and illustrated by Giovana Medeiros. It is a picture book recommended for ages 3 to 6.

From the Publisher:

From Me:

In this book the twins receive a jigsaw puzzle from their grandmother. They have to put it together to get her secret message. It is the first puzzle they have ever done. They notice the puzzle pieces that have flat sides--the edge pieces. Then they find one of the corner pieces. Soon they realize that not only do the pieces need to fit together but the colors have to be matching. This book is a simple book that is a wonderful way to introduce jigsaw puzzles. I love that it also has some Brazilian Portuguese mixed in with the English. At the end of the book there is a glossary for the Portuguese words, the author's note about immigrant children and families as well as a section on exploring the math and some ideas to expand on the math. The obvious thing to do after reading the book is to put together a jigsaw puzzle. But the book also helps talk about similarities and differences which can be found in so many parts of the day and life. 

The second book is being released next week and it is a board book. It is Where Are the Eggs? by Grace Lin. It is recommended for ages 0 to 2. 

From the Publisher:


From Me:

In this book Mei looks for the eggs laid by her chickens. It is a wonderful book to have little ones help search. You don't even have to read all the words but look for the eggs. As you can see in the sample page, they are all over the yard. The words are simple and the pictures are colorful. I also love how pages are more detailed for each egg. As Mei searches for the eggs, she sees many things in the yard and will help young ones learn more about the world around them. At the end of this book there is also an explanation of the math which goes into the relatival positions like under and next to. There is also the try this section to expand on the book. It includes using position words, a treasure hunt and more. I think it is the perfect spring book because I know we always loved egg hunts

l love how both books are multicultural and share a bit more than just the math. It looks like the entire series is full of multicultural books. I hope you will check them out!