Help Me Learn Subtraction

by Jean Marzollo

This book is aligned with the Common Core State Standards for kindergarten and first grade in mathematics in operations and algebraic thinking (K.OA and 1.OA). Photographs of toy dinosaurs, monsters, piglets, and other objects; rhyming text; and a game help children learn that subtraction is a take-away action! Rows of colorful rubber duckies show subtraction facts. Hummingbirds and chickadees show the difference between addition and subtraction in this entertaining introduction to mathematics.

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2012

About the author

Jean Marzollo was an American children's author and illustrator best known for the I Spy series, a best-selling and award-winning collection written entirely in rhythm and rhyme and illustrated by Walter Wick. Over her career, she wrote more than 100 books for children, parents, and educators, including Help Me Learn Numbers 0-20, The Little Plant Doctor, and Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King. Born and raised in Connecticut, she graduated from the University of Connecticut and earned a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She taught high school English and later worked in educational publishing, serving for 20 years as editor of Scholastic’s Let’s Find Out Magazine. Later in life, she began illustrating her own books.

Reviews

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a super-creative and colorful approach to subtraction!

By far the most visually creative book I've seen yet about subtraction, the photographs make great use of all the ways that toys and puppets can turn subtraction into an excellent kind of game.

What kinds of toys and puppets?

* Finger puppets of a bunny, a lamb, a lion, and a mouse
* Toy dinosaurs
* Crazy-colorful monsters
* The cutest little yellow birds ever, birds that "look alive"
* 10 adorable fuzzy dogs

Add FIVE STARS, in any color you like.

[Chinook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kait (6) engages with these a little more than Maddie (4), but I think they are overall a good addition to other exposures to math and how subtraction works. They liked the hidden dinosaurs the most, I think.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about subtraction that covers material written in the Common Core State Standards. Pictures feature real objects. Text is written in rhyme and also features number sentences written in both words and numbers (i.e. ten minus two equals eight, 10-2=8). Highly recommended for PreK/K.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The now trio of HELP ME LEARN titles is highly recommended for schools and common core collections.