THE BARK PARK
Author: Lori Haskins Houran
Illustrator: John Joven
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Number of pages: 29
Publisher: Kane Press (USA) First published in: 2022 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (Math Matters) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
Pups love the Bark Park, the best dog park around. Only one thing would make it better for everyone-a bench! But a bench isn't in the park budget. How can Lila and her friends raise the money? With a dog wash! They reach 25% of the goal, then 50%, until . . . a sudden shower threatens to make the dog wash a 100% washout! With engaging stories that connect maths to kids' everyday lives, each book in the Teachers' Choice Award-winning Math Matters series focuses on a single concept and reinforces maths vocabulary and skills. Bonus activities in the back of each book feature maths and reading comprehension questions, and even more free activities online add to the fun! |
“Sophie colored in the bottom of the chart. "We're at twenty-five percent already!" "We only made twenty-five cents?" Nolan yelped. "No, twenty-five percent," said Sophie. "Percent means how much you have out of one hundred.”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Lori Haskins Houran’s ‘The Bark Park’ (2022), one of the latest titles in Kane Press’s Math Matters series, is currently one of only two mathematical stories in the market right now that explicitly focuses on the concept of percentage. This heartwarming story follows a group of friends, Lila, her friend Nolan and his sister Sophie, in their attempt to raise $100 to purchase a bench as a birthday gift for Mr. Romero to sit in the benchless Bark Park so that his dog – Lady – can be brought there to play with the other dogs. Through their dog wash fundraising effort, the friends get to see how much of their fundraising target is being met throughout the day, starting from 0% to 25%, 50%, 75% and all the way to 100% of their $100 target. The 100% target goal chart that the characters created and have next to them is a simple but useful tool to visually show to young readers the changes in the percentage. The story also does well in addressing a misconception that some children may have, that is mistaking ‘percent’ for ‘cents’ (e.g., 25% vs 25 cents). Like the other titles in the series, this book also comes with follow-up activities that teachers and parents can do with their children once they have read the story, for example, children could be shown actual sales fliers or on-line advertisements for products that children like (e.g., toys or snacks), and discuss with them the meaning of those sales percentage shown on the fliers and in the advertisements. All in all, we highly recommend ‘The Bark Park’ to introduce the concept of percentage to children, aged 6+ years old.
Recommended age range:
6+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Money; Percentage
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.
Lori Haskins Houran’s ‘The Bark Park’ (2022), one of the latest titles in Kane Press’s Math Matters series, is currently one of only two mathematical stories in the market right now that explicitly focuses on the concept of percentage. This heartwarming story follows a group of friends, Lila, her friend Nolan and his sister Sophie, in their attempt to raise $100 to purchase a bench as a birthday gift for Mr. Romero to sit in the benchless Bark Park so that his dog – Lady – can be brought there to play with the other dogs. Through their dog wash fundraising effort, the friends get to see how much of their fundraising target is being met throughout the day, starting from 0% to 25%, 50%, 75% and all the way to 100% of their $100 target. The 100% target goal chart that the characters created and have next to them is a simple but useful tool to visually show to young readers the changes in the percentage. The story also does well in addressing a misconception that some children may have, that is mistaking ‘percent’ for ‘cents’ (e.g., 25% vs 25 cents). Like the other titles in the series, this book also comes with follow-up activities that teachers and parents can do with their children once they have read the story, for example, children could be shown actual sales fliers or on-line advertisements for products that children like (e.g., toys or snacks), and discuss with them the meaning of those sales percentage shown on the fliers and in the advertisements. All in all, we highly recommend ‘The Bark Park’ to introduce the concept of percentage to children, aged 6+ years old.
Recommended age range:
6+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Money; Percentage
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.
