Monster Math

by Anne Miranda, Polly Powell (Illustrator)

Overview

How many monsters does it take to make trouble?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780152165307
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date:	09/28/2002
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	25,251
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 9.75(h) x 0.14(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

ANNE MIRANDA has written many children’s books, including Night Songs, which she also illustrated, and Glad Monster, Sad Monster: A Book About Feelings. She lives in Madrid, Spain.

Editorial Reviews

"A grand addition to the counting shelf."—Kirkus Reviews
"The pages are filled with action."—School Library Journal
"A story of comic chaos."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the Publisher

A little red-nosed, green-skinned monster invites 49 of her nearest and dearest monster friends to a birthday party. "The math lesson feels like a natural component and the mega-motley monster crew is a hoot," said PW in a starred review. Ages 3-7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"The house is a wreck and the couch has been frosted./ The food's been devoured and Mother's exhausted." But what else could be expected when a little red-nosed, green-skinned monster invites 49 of her nearest and dearest monster friends to a birthday party? From start to finish Miranda (To Market, To Market) and Powell (Just Dessert) chronicle the offbeat birthday bash with zany lan, and the math lesson feels like a natural component. Things start normally enough--for a monster party, at least. The first nine monster guests arrive one by one and prove a relatively manageable bunch: Mother, a multi-armed purple mutant with bright orange bouffant and harlequin spectacles, even expertly organizes a sack race for the assembled ghouls. But when more monsters start arriving--in groups of 10, no less--and finally number 50, Mother realizes that the situation is out of hand, and she instigates some major monster subtraction. Within a few pages, the little green birthday monster is left alone, but she's "grateful and glad./ It's the best birthday party that she's ever had!" Powell's mega-motley monster crew is a hoot (even very sensitive children will be hard pressed to find one beastie that's genuinely scary), and Miranda once again shows that she has few rivals when it comes to spinning out a story of comic chaos. Ages 3-8. (Aug.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

It is a birthday party and all of monster's little monster friends are arriving to help celebrate. The crowd grows one by one until there are ten. Then suddenly there are ten more for twenty and then another ten for thirty until fifty monsters fill the pages. Well mama shoos away forty and then deals with the rest until her own little one remains. "The house is a wreck and the couch has been frosted. The food's been devoured and Mother's exhausted." Naturally it was the best birthday party little monster ever had. While not as amusing as To Market, To Market by the same author, kids might enjoy pouring over the pages filled with a variety of strange creatures.

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

Miranda's book counts the monsters gathering at a birthday party, while a simple rhyming text keeps the tally and surveys the action: "Seven starved monsters are licking the dishes./Eight blow out candles and make birthday wishes." The counting proceeds to ten, then by tens to fifty, then gradually returns to one, which makes the monster's mother, a purple pin-headed octopus, very happy. The book is surprisingly effective due to Powell's artwork; the color has texture and density, as if it were poured onto the page, but the real attention-getter is the singularity of every monster attendee. They are highly individual and, therefore, eminently countable. As the numbers start crawling upward, it is both fun and a challenge to try to recognize monsters who have appeared in previous pages, or to attempt to stay focused when counting the swirling or bunched creatures. The story has glints of humor, and in combination with the illustrations is a grand addition to the counting shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews