BOOKS THAT EXPLAIN CONCEPTS TO CHILDREN

NOTE ABOUT PRICES
Prices are subject to change at any time, but they will always be
10% off the current publisher's list price.

IS A BLUE WHALE THE BIGGEST THING THERE IS? Robert Wells has written a book for all ages to illustrate and explain the relative sizes of large from a blue whale all the way to the whole universe. The opening picture shows an elephant, horse, and lion standing on a pier watching the tale of a blue whale that is larger than all of them combined. Then he shows the same animals looking at a jar that contains 100 blue whales. He then puts two such jars on a platform with the animals between them. With the animals still standing on the bottom platform, Wells draws a stack of platforms ten high and then on the next page puts them on top of Mount Everest to show how small they are in comparison. By this time the animals are no longer visible. Wells goes on and on until he reaches the universe itself, having introduced numbers in the millions and billions along the way. Even adults will find this book, and others in this series fascinating. Other titles include WHAT'S SMALLER THAN A PYGMY SHREW, WHAT'S FASTER THAN A SPEEDING CHEETAH (Explores speed from the ostrich and cheetah to the speed of light), HOW DO YOU LIFT A LION (comparative weights), and the newest one --CAN YOU COUNT TO A GOOGOL? This last one  explains very large numbers and the concept of infinity itself.  The books are 6.26-D each, in paper.

CLOCKS AND MORE CLOCKS, written and illustrated by Pat Hutchins: All of Mr. Higgins clocks read about a minute apart from each other. How can he know which one tells the right time? Helps explore the concept of time passing as Mr. Higgins walks from room to room to set his clocks. Paper, 5.99

FROG COUNTS TO TEN, by John Liebler. Left out of a game of hide-and-seek because he can't count, Frog sets out on his bicycle, meets with misfortune, and learns his numbers literally by accident. Young children will learn along with Frog as they look for the numerals cleverly hidden in the art work and count objects in the pictures. For those who can already count, it's still fun to read the bold, large print and watch frog's mishaps. 4.95, paper.

HOW MUCH IS A MILLION? David Schwartz's words team up with Steven Kellogg's illustrations to help children visualize a concept that can boogle the mind of an adult. Paper, 5.95. Ages 3-8.

THE KING WHO RAINED by Fred Gwynne. Enter the literal world of children's thoughts with this delightful book of illustrated word play for all ages.   The illustrations show what may well be in a child's mind when she hears expressions such as a king who rained, fork in the road, mole on the nose, playing bridge, children with bear feet, prince in the snow, etc. Trade paper

THE "M&M'S" BRAND CHOCOLATE CANDIES COUNTING BOOK. Barbara McGrath has written and illustrated what has to be the world's yummiest way to teach counting and simple math concepts to young children. Readers will be introduced to the numbers 1-12, the six colors of the candies, three primary shapes, and the sets of twelve. Only 6.26-D in paper or 15.95 in hardcover.

ONE CROW, by Jim Aylesworth. Great for teaching counting, rhyming words, seasons of the year, and precise, exciting verbs. I love the pictures of the children and animals set in the country on a farm and the contrast of seasons in Ruth Young's beautiful illustrations. OP, but I still have a couple at $6.95*

ONE HUNDRED HUNGRY ANTS, by E. Pinczes. One hundred hungry ants hurry single file to sample the delights of a picnic, but that seems an awfully slow way to move. One enterprising ant suggests they could get there faster in two rows of 50...four rows of 25... and so the division begins. The ants' lively marching verses combined with Bonnie Mackain's whimsical ant (and animal) pictures make this book a comically delightful way to learn division. Paper, 5.36-D.

Q IS FOR DUCK. Mary Elting and Michael Folsom have combined their efforts to make this unique alphabet book illustrated by Jack Kent. Young children whose favorite word is "Why?" will love this! Each page has a statement followed by the question "Why?". The child then can think through the riddle and attempt his own answer before turning the page to see the author's. Examples: "D is for Mole. Why? Because a mole digs. E is for whale. Why? Because a whale is enormous." Most answers contain good examples of verbs, and the constant use of the question mark reinforces the concept of interrogative sentences. BTH-2740. $6.26-D in paper.

YELLOW AND PINK by William Steig. A yellow and pink puppet lie in the sun, and as they wait for their paint to dry, they ponder their origin. One thinks someone must have made them. The other thinks they just happened. They speculate and debate, until the one who made them comes and carries them away. An excellent way to introduce the creation/evolution debate to primary children. Publisher out of stock.

Copyright © 1997, by Barbara Radisavljevic, all rights reserved

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