{"id":36796,"date":"2020-01-29T00:00:50","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T04:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=36796"},"modified":"2020-01-29T00:00:50","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T04:00:50","slug":"review-of-how-many-by-christopher-danielson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=36796","title":{"rendered":"Review of How Many? by Christopher Danielson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>How Many?<\/p>\n

A Different Kind of Counting Book<\/em><\/p>\n

by Christopher Danielson<\/p>\n

2019, Charlesbridge. First published in 2018 by Stenhouse Publishers. 39 pages.
\nStarred Review
\n2019 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>: #2 in Children’s Nonfiction Picture Books<\/p>\n

I already loved Christopher Danielson\u2019s earlier book, Which One Doesn\u2019t Belong?<\/a><\/em> It came to my attention when it won a Mathical Book Prize. Now Charlesbridge has taken on his books to hopefully reach a wider audience.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the book explains that it is different from other counting books:<\/p>\n

This book doesn\u2019t<\/strong> tell you what to count.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t<\/strong> start with small numbers and end with big ones.<\/p>\n

Instead you decide<\/strong> what to count on each page. You have many choices.<\/p>\n

The longer you look, the more possibilities you notice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And that\u2019s what you get. The illustrations are photographs. The pictures show things like an apple being cored and two shoes in a shoebox. The text asks, \u201cHow many do you see?\u201d<\/p>\n

After that first picture, the narrator says:<\/p>\n

If you thought, \u201chow many what<\/strong> do I see?\u201d then you get the idea.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It does give examples of things you can count: shoes, pairs of shoes, shoelaces, holes for the laces, yellow stitches. And it asks, \u201cWhat other things can you count?\u201d<\/p>\n

The pictures get interesting in different ways. There\u2019s a picture of an egg carton with one egg in it. There\u2019s a picture of eggs frying, one of which has a double yolk. The eggshells are by the stove, and the eggs that were not used are still in the carton next to the stove.<\/p>\n

In other pictures, some fruit gets cut in half. We\u2019ve got pictures of pizza, and then pizza in slices. Pictures toward the end show kitchen scenes with many of the things we already looked at \u2013 including shoes on the floor.<\/p>\n

Questions at the back give you ways to extend the ideas. I do love that there are no answers anywhere in this book.<\/p>\n

This is a wonderful book for curious children! It builds sophisticated mathematical ideas into preschool and early elementary school children. Anyone who has learned to count will have something to think about with this book.<\/p>\n

As the author says at the end, \u201cWhen you count carefully and clearly state what you\u2019re counting, you\u2019re doing some great math!\u201d<\/p>\n

talkingmathwithkids.com<\/a>
\ncharlesbridge.com<\/a>
\nStenhouse.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/how_many.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on my own copy, purchased via Amazon.com.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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