THE TWELVE-BUG DAY
Author: Lisa Harkrader
Illustrator: Deborah Melmon
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Number of pages: 27
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 (Mouse Math) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
A dozen bugs? That’s a lot! Still, Albert is sure he’ll find all twelve on the class field trip to the insect zoo. After all he loves bugs. What doesn’t he love? Subtraction. But if he counts down, bug by bug, he might just win lunch with the famous entomologist, Arizona Brown! Every Mouse Math title includes back matter activities that support and extend reading comprehension and math skills, plus free online activities. |
“"Twelve minus three is nine." Albert smiled. He was getting the hang of it. "Nine bugs left!" [...] Albert found a grasshopper in the desert room. That made four bugs. Twelve minus four was eight. Leo found an ant. Twelve minus five was seven.”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Lisa Harkrader’s ‘The Twelve-Bug Day’ (2022), one of the latest titles in Kane Press’s Mouse Math series, follows a young mouse named Albert and his classmates on a class field trip to an insect zoo. His teacher tells the children to pair up before setting them a challenge – the first pair to find all twelve pre-determined insects at the zoo will win lunch with a famed explorer. Using their subtraction skill, Albert and his partner, Leo, keep track of how many insects they have yet to find. While the storyline is simple, it provides very young children a meaningful context to learn the concept of subtracting from a two-digit number. The story also provides a meaningful scientific connection for children to learn about the different insects. A useful feature of this book is the symbolic and pictorial representations showing how many bugs are yet to be found as the story progresses. 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, making a list of 12 items that can be found in a home or classroom setting and asking the children to search for them while encouraging them to use subtraction to work out how many items left on the list that are yet to be found. To increase the challenge level, the number of items can be gradually increased in each round to give children plenty of opportunities to practise subtracting from a two-digit number. All in all, we recommend ‘The Twelve-Bug Day’ to introduce the concept of subtracting from a two-digit number to children, aged 5+ years old.
Recommended age range:
5+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Addition & Subtraction
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.
Lisa Harkrader’s ‘The Twelve-Bug Day’ (2022), one of the latest titles in Kane Press’s Mouse Math series, follows a young mouse named Albert and his classmates on a class field trip to an insect zoo. His teacher tells the children to pair up before setting them a challenge – the first pair to find all twelve pre-determined insects at the zoo will win lunch with a famed explorer. Using their subtraction skill, Albert and his partner, Leo, keep track of how many insects they have yet to find. While the storyline is simple, it provides very young children a meaningful context to learn the concept of subtracting from a two-digit number. The story also provides a meaningful scientific connection for children to learn about the different insects. A useful feature of this book is the symbolic and pictorial representations showing how many bugs are yet to be found as the story progresses. 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, making a list of 12 items that can be found in a home or classroom setting and asking the children to search for them while encouraging them to use subtraction to work out how many items left on the list that are yet to be found. To increase the challenge level, the number of items can be gradually increased in each round to give children plenty of opportunities to practise subtracting from a two-digit number. All in all, we recommend ‘The Twelve-Bug Day’ to introduce the concept of subtracting from a two-digit number to children, aged 5+ years old.
Recommended age range:
5+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Addition & Subtraction
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.
