PICNIC WITH SOME PEANUTS
Author: Angela M. Isaacs with the Purdue Early Achievement Research Labs
Illustrator: Matt Dye
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Number of pages: 29
Publisher: Purdue Early Achievement Research Labs First published in: 2021 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (The Little Elephants' Big Adventures) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
Join Lucy, Benjamin, and Bear on their next math adventure. Uh-oh, where's Bear? In this new math adventure story, Benjamin and Lucy must solve the mystery to save their picnic and their pal in this picture book about everyday math and problem-solving.The Little Elephants’ Big Adventures series teaches early childhood math with fun adventures filled with mathematical words. |
“"Lemonade!" Lucy got out the jar. She carefully poured glasses of lemonade. Benjamin got some lemonade. Lucy got less. Bear got the least.”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Angela M. Isaacs’s ‘Picnic with Some Peanuts’ (2021) is a title in the ‘The Little Elephants’ Big Adventures’ series of mathematical stories by the Purdue Early Achievement Research Labs. The story follows Benjamin, Lucy and her cuddly toy named Bear as they go on a picnic. The story has a simple storyline whereby throughout the book, young readers get to compare the different amounts of the different picnic items (e.g., peanuts, apples, some lemonade, and books) and to practise using mathematical vocabularies, such as few, fewer, less, and a little bit. The storyline is age appropriate and does well in embedding these mathematical vocabularies in an everyday situation. To extend the mathematics learning opportunity after having read the story to their young children, teachers and parents can divide everyday objects (e.g., pencils, books, toys, Unifix cubes, etc.) into three or more groups, and encourage their children to observe and compare the amounts of these items across the groups using the aforementioned mathematical vocabularies as well as introducing new ones, such as least. Like the other titles in the series (i.e., ‘Too Many Pillows’ and ‘Just Enough Eggs’), each page spread is accompanied by three questions: red (to be asked after the first reading), blue (to be asked after the second reading), and purple (to be asked after the third reading). The questions are a combination of those that aid young children’s story comprehension skills and those that can help to facilitate their mathematical thinking. Teachers and parents will find this book feature quite useful when reading the story to their children. All in all, we highly recommend ‘Picnic with Some Peanuts’ to introduce the concept of measurement comparison to children aged 4+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author.)
Recommended age range:
4+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Measurement Comparison
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.
Angela M. Isaacs’s ‘Picnic with Some Peanuts’ (2021) is a title in the ‘The Little Elephants’ Big Adventures’ series of mathematical stories by the Purdue Early Achievement Research Labs. The story follows Benjamin, Lucy and her cuddly toy named Bear as they go on a picnic. The story has a simple storyline whereby throughout the book, young readers get to compare the different amounts of the different picnic items (e.g., peanuts, apples, some lemonade, and books) and to practise using mathematical vocabularies, such as few, fewer, less, and a little bit. The storyline is age appropriate and does well in embedding these mathematical vocabularies in an everyday situation. To extend the mathematics learning opportunity after having read the story to their young children, teachers and parents can divide everyday objects (e.g., pencils, books, toys, Unifix cubes, etc.) into three or more groups, and encourage their children to observe and compare the amounts of these items across the groups using the aforementioned mathematical vocabularies as well as introducing new ones, such as least. Like the other titles in the series (i.e., ‘Too Many Pillows’ and ‘Just Enough Eggs’), each page spread is accompanied by three questions: red (to be asked after the first reading), blue (to be asked after the second reading), and purple (to be asked after the third reading). The questions are a combination of those that aid young children’s story comprehension skills and those that can help to facilitate their mathematical thinking. Teachers and parents will find this book feature quite useful when reading the story to their children. All in all, we highly recommend ‘Picnic with Some Peanuts’ to introduce the concept of measurement comparison to children aged 4+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author.)
Recommended age range:
4+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Measurement Comparison
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.
