CRASH! BOOM!
Author: Robie H. Harris
Illustrator: Chris Chatterton
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Number of pages: 28
Publisher: Walker Books First published in: 2018 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? No Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
A lively introduction to essential maths concepts for very young readers. Elephant wants to build something tall. Something as tall as Elephant. But will it stay up? CRASH! BOOM! No, not this time... Hmmm... Build it again? 1 block. 2 blocks? 4 blocks? It’s still not as tall as Elephant. More blocks! Now will it stay up? Now will it be as tall as Elephant? Build, balance and count; question, estimate, measure; predict, crash, and build again with Elephant and a bucket full of blocks. Robie Harris's charming, boisterous text is perfectly complemented by Chris Chatterton's bold mixed-media illustrations. |
“Hey! I want it to be as tall as ME! 2 more? it's up. It's ... a little ... wobbly. But it's up! 1 2 3 4”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Robie H Harris’s ‘Crash! Boom!’ (2018) is a simple story about a young elephant trying to build a tower of wooden blocks but it comes crashing down. Elephant then attempts to rebuild it using different strategies. While the storyline is very basic, we believe it is something that many pre-school children can relate to, and might even have a go at trying out Elephant’s strategies once they have heard the story. Mathematically speaking, the story is great for providing a meaningful context for very young children to practise their one-to-one correspondence skill. The page illustrations are visually appealing with the use of mixed-media illustrations: Elephant, drawn and coloured in chalk, is superimposed onto actual photos of the play setting with wooden blocks. What we also like about this story is that the author does not indicate the gender of Elephant: the character is referred to simply as Elephant; what Elephant wears (i.e. a purple t-shirt) is arguably gender neutral; and the story is told from Elephant’s perspective, which means no third-person pronouns (e.g. he, she) are needed. All in all, we recommend ‘Crash! Boom!’ to either introduce or reinforce the concept of one-to-one correspondence to children, aged 4+ years old.
Recommended age range:
4+ years old
Relevant topics:
One-to-one correspondence
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
Robie H Harris’s ‘Crash! Boom!’ (2018) is a simple story about a young elephant trying to build a tower of wooden blocks but it comes crashing down. Elephant then attempts to rebuild it using different strategies. While the storyline is very basic, we believe it is something that many pre-school children can relate to, and might even have a go at trying out Elephant’s strategies once they have heard the story. Mathematically speaking, the story is great for providing a meaningful context for very young children to practise their one-to-one correspondence skill. The page illustrations are visually appealing with the use of mixed-media illustrations: Elephant, drawn and coloured in chalk, is superimposed onto actual photos of the play setting with wooden blocks. What we also like about this story is that the author does not indicate the gender of Elephant: the character is referred to simply as Elephant; what Elephant wears (i.e. a purple t-shirt) is arguably gender neutral; and the story is told from Elephant’s perspective, which means no third-person pronouns (e.g. he, she) are needed. All in all, we recommend ‘Crash! Boom!’ to either introduce or reinforce the concept of one-to-one correspondence to children, aged 4+ years old.
Recommended age range:
4+ years old
Relevant topics:
One-to-one correspondence
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
