3 X 4 by Ivan Brunetti
3 x 4 by Ivan Brunetti
Review Copy from TOON Books
Story: Annemarie (from Brunetti's magnificent Word Play) has a homework assignment. She has to draw 12 things, but in sets. As she drives home from school with her dad, she begins looking at the world in a different way, grouping things into sets. Meanwhile... we see her classmates working on their own homework assignments. At the suggestion of her dad, one student draws a tree and shows the story of its life, from seed to sapling to tree, exclaiming of her drawing of four seeds, four saplings and four trees grouped into three boxes, "It's like a comic strip!" I especially love the student who draws one dragon that has four tails, four heads and four feet. Brunetti is remarkably creative with his groupings! Returning to Annemarie, she reveals her marvelous groupings, inspired by her musician mother and all the instruments in her home.
Pictures: Brunetti's colorful, chunky characters and crisp lines are PERFECT for the subject of this book. Besides being totally engaging, he draws your eye in and you begin grouping the various items on the page without even realizing it!
Why Read? Why Buy?: I hear parents complain all the time about how kids are being taught math these days. And I have to admit, when I first started working as a librarian four years ago and kids asked me for help with their math homework, I had a few things to learn, including vocabulary. And, one thing that made sense to me is learning by grouping. For this reason, Brunetti's book will make perfect sense to readers, who won't even realize they are learning math while they are learning to read! And, of course, this is a great jumping off point for some groupings at home... Beyond that, every TOON Book is a little work of art and worth every single penny. And I do recommend buying these books if you can.
If you don't already know this incredible series of graphic novels for beginning readers, I've been reviewing them for almost 10 years now and love every single one! Be sure to peruse past reviews of TOON Books HERE.
