Counting Around Town
Set of 6 titles
For learners to succeed in their study of mathematics, they need to understand math concepts fully, including how they connect to their world. When they realize these connections, real-life occurrences become opportunities for reinforcement. In this motivating and inviting series, familiar places are settings in which readers can practice their counting skills. Accessible text is crafted to be achievable and encouraging for emerging readers, while colorful photographs provide visual clues. Text and images combine to help learners hone not only their number sense but also their reading fluency.
SLJ Review of Counting Around Town
Counting around the community is encouraged in this highly visual series. In Counting at the Game, a fictional girl counts to ten at a football game, and the photos supporting the text include numerical labels to help identify things like the end zone. Kids enjoy a climbing wall, seesaws, swings, and more in Counting at the Playground. Each spread includes no more than two sentences with a repetitive sentence structure and the use of high-frequency words. Bright photos support the text with context clues. The simple, clean layouts and interesting subject matter make this a fine series for classroom collections. School and public libraries whose budgets are tight as the year draws to a close may want to cherry-pick the animal-focused titles, which will no doubt see the highest circulation. VERDICT: Counting at the Aquarium and Counting at the Zoo are first purchases for sure; buy the remaining titles if you can swing it.