Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Review: Goodnight Numbers by Danica McKellar, and Alicia Padron

9781101933787
$16.99

This deceptively simple bedtime book, the first in the McKellar Math line, gives your child the building blocks for math success. As children say goodnight to the objects all around them—three wheels on a tricycle, four legs on a cat—they will connect with the real numbers in their world while creating cuddly memories, night after night.

Our kids are all way too young to remember Winnie from The Wonder Years, but that is how most of us first 'met' McKellar. I love, love, love this video telling when she first 'discovered' who she could be outside of that role:


McKellar has written several math books for the middle school age, explaining various math concepts in ways that are aimed to be more accessible and fun than your typical dry textbook. Here, she has branched out into picture books (and soon, for this title at least, board books) to spread the fun of numbers at an early age.

This isn't the only counting and/or bedtime book out there, but it certainly can't hurt to add another to your repertoire. Padron's soft illustrations are colorful and diverse. Children will have fun spying other sets of the same number in each spread - are those six flowers on the tent? Six musical notes? And, can you find all six bunnies? I will be interested to see how it translates into board book form - will the pictures be too tiny to pick details out? Other than that, I think the text will work out perfectly in that format!

*NOTE: This title has been nominated for the Cybils Award, and I am a first round panelist. There are many nominations and six other judges. My opinions should not be construed as a sign of inclusion or exclusion on the final short list.

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