Equal Shmequal by Virginia Kroll

image from: http://www.fun-books.com/mathematics.htm

Equal Shmequal by Virginia Kroll

Published by Charlesbridge Publishing: 2005

Picture Book

Summary:

After watching children play tug-of-war at recess mouse decides that she wants to play too! So she gather a bunch of her forest friends who want to play as well. They struggle to find a way to make equal teams. Meat eaters vs. plant eaters? Fur vs. no fur? Three vs. three? They find that none of these work. Finally they use the teeter totter to divide the teams by weight. It is a tough battle until bear is distracted by bees and honey allowing the other team to win.  

Response:

I really enjoyed this story. It is categorized as a math adventure and I can see why as it helps to illustrate what it means for something to be equal. As a future teacher this is definitely a book that I could use in my classroom. The pictures as also very appealing and well done and complement the story line well. At the end of the story there is also a little conclusion that explains what equal is in a more mathematical and formal way.

For the Reader:

I would recommend this story for children starting in kindergarten. At that age I would not use it for the mathematical lesson it is taught, but for the story itself. Even at a young age children can take playground applications of ‘equal’ away from the story that they can use.

For any teachers out there, this story would work well with introducing inequalities in Grade 4 with the Alberta curriculum.