Riddles introduce kids to math in a fun and unthreatening fashion, while at the same time encouraging them to think through math problems as they study both the amusing verse and pictures. Solutions and tables are provided. Full color.

Reviews

Gr 2-4-From "Crows in Rows" to "Obese Geese," this title presents a flock of bird-themed rhyming word problems. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division tables conveniently cover the endpapers, and a brief introduction to each mathematical function is provided on the first spread. Miller's festive, computer-generated illustrations give the book a retro look and jazz up the sometimes-forced, occasionally bland rhymes. The word problems are also somewhat repetitive. While this book is undoubtedly more enticing than worksheets, other titles do more to inspire and teach children. Jon Scieszka's Math Curse (Viking, 1995), for example, is a much better choice for making math fun and stretching kids' critical-thinking skills, while Greg Tang's The Grapes of Math (Scholastic, 2001) seamlessly embeds problem-solving strategies right into the (much more fluid and funny) rhymes. Still, Adler's offering is a suitable addition to collections in need of another math picture book.-Jill Heritage Maza, Greenwich High School, CT Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

"This will be useful for parents and teachers who want to introduce techniques for solving word problems."