Minnie's Diner: A Multiplying Menu

by Dayle Ann Dodds, John Manders (Illustrator)

"The concept of doubling goes down easy in this combination of multiplication facts, rhyme, humor — and diner food." —  The Horn Book

Down on the farm one morning, Papa McFay orders his sons to hop to their chores. But from Minnie’s kitchen wafts a smell that gets the boys itchin’, and one by one, they succumb to the call of that sweet aroma. Each brother arrives at Minnie’s twice as hungry as his brother before — and looking for twice as much grub. Will they be in double trouble when Papa McFay tracks them down? With singsong rhythms and comical illustrations spiced with flavor, Dayle Ann Dodds and John Manders serve up a humorous lesson in multiplication.

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Food, Childrens, Multiplication, Storytime, Family

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Dayle Ann Dodds is the author of numerous picture books for children, including THE SHAPE OF THINGS, TEACHER'S PETS, THE GREAT DIVIDE: A MATHEMATICAL MARATHON, and MINNIE'S DINER: A MULTIPLYING MENU. A former elementary school teacher, she lives in Carmel Valley, California.

Reviews

[Kalisha Mohammed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prior to reading this book, I will explore the idea of double with my students to ensure that the concept of double as an exact replication of a set is understood. I will illustrate this by having several different sets of items and asking my students to “Make it a double!” by creating another set exactly the same and then adding them together to get the double. For example: “Here are 4 dinosaurs. Make it a double! That’s right 4 more so we write 4 + 4 and double 4 is 8 so we write 4 + 4 = 8.”Next, I will read this book to my students and record each double as a math equation when it is illustrated in the story. I will stress the terms “double” and “2 groups of” when recording the illustrations. After reading the book, I will challenge my students to figure out what the next two doubles in the sequence might be. In pairs or small groups, I will tell my students that I am going to ask them to build ice cream cones to show they know how to “make it a double!” I will show them the cones (triangles) and the scoops (circles). I will give each pair or small group a number (between 1-9 or higher if that is appropriate for the ability of the student) and ask them to make the cone with that many scoops by gluing or stapling on the circles. When everyone is ready I will say “Make it a Double!” and have each pair or group create a new cone with double the number of scoops. I will attach the cones and their doubles to a display board and have the students record the maths equation for their double.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun tall tale with a side of math.

[Ariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good! Amazing actually!!! This book is great for kids just starting out learning multiply because it is fun and your kids can read along as well! Perfect for early learners and for anyone too.

[H Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of counting and multiplication. The story itself is fun, and makes logical sense, that each kid is getting double the amount of his little brother. I like the way how John handles characters. The father never show up i the first few pages, we saw his giant shadow, and immdediately was imagining the size of their father. While his show up at the end of the book makes it totally a hoot.

This book would work very well for the purpose of teaching simp,e meth. While a small concern is the style of John in this book. Characters are more cartoonish than his usual style, and sort of having a stereotype of people in the southern part of the US. I would appreciate the story more if characters are more diverse, and not depicting a certain lifestyle.

[Kaila Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book makes it an easier read for students, because it has a rhyming scheme to the story. This book introduces multiplication. You can read this to students to introduce multiplication, or use it as a mini lesson for an activity with students. Additionally, because it has a rhyming scheme, it breaks down multiplication in an easier and more understandable tone for students.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story about a farming family where each person stops doing chores to go to Minnie's to eat. The first person orders the daily special. Each person thereafter orders twice what the person before got. Nice powers of two.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Great for teaching kids about the concept of doubling while also being fun and entertaining. Plus, the pictures are fantastic. AND it even rhymes throughout the story! Lots of fun. Pick this one up!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter Grace decided we simply must review this book. Why? Because it’s a great book. She loves the farmer and the restaurant. It’s a little scary because the farmer shows up at the door but she likes that part! She likes the shadows in the illustration.

[Rebecca Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the new favorite at our house - fun and silly, with math involved.

[Annburnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this multiplying book! great read for young children .

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute multiplication story.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good for teaching the concept of doubling. Very cute pictures. Story is so so.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could have used a note at the end.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great rhyming book!

[Launna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun way to talk about multiplication. Our kids give it 5 stars.

[Liz Thorpe]

Recommended by WhiteRose for doubling as part of multiplication (Year 1)

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun book!

[Bix · Rating 2 out of 5]

An introduction to multiplication, this picture book is based on a simple concept: each of five brothers, twice as large as the next younger one, place an order at Minnie's Diner doubling that of the next younger sibling. The drawings are colorful and cartoonish, but the simple, silly story is fairly forgettable. Still, children will swallow the basic multiplication table presented here while enjoying the humorous visuals. For ages 4-7."

CIP: "Rhyming tale of five boys and their father who forget about their chores on the farm to enjoy Minnie's good cooking, each requesting double what the previous one ordered."

SLJ: "K-Gr 2. One by one, each of the McFay brothers sneaks away from his farm chores and heads over to Minnie's Diner for her fabulous fare... Minnie serves each sibling successively twice as much food as the previous diner, because each brother is twice as large as the one before... Told in jaunty rhymes with varied type sizes for emphasis, this funny story is illustrated with colorful cartoons done in gouache. Children will appreciate the humor and groan with delight when they recognize the math pattern and anticipate ever-larger amounts of food. Pair Dodds's book with Kathi Appelt's Bats on Parade (HarperCollins, 1999), also told in verse, for a fun first look at multiplication."

PW: "This lesson in multiplication goes down smoothly, thanks to the exponential fun in the rhyming couplets and accompanying visuals... With Dodds's (The Great Divide) bouncy rhymes and Manders's assured gouaches, the book takes on the vivacity of a vintage animated cartoon... There's even a solid punchline: the terribly intimidating shadow of Papa McFay turns out to belong to a scrawny little fella (think Snuffy Smith) who not only succumbs to the charms of Minnie's menu, but also asks for 32 of everything—and cleans her out (Manders ends with a "Sorry, we're closed!" sign). Ages 5-8."

[Mandy J. Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is hysterical and so much fun to read!

It is a short but fun story about 5 brothers who live on a farm. There father tells them they can't stop to eat until the chores are done. But one-by-one they smell the delicious food from Minnie's Diner and one-by-one they wander down to the diner for some food. The menu multiplies as each brother goes to eat.

Minnie's Diner is not only a funny story with funny pictures, too, but my kids enjoyed the little bit of math that is worked into this tale. I enjoyed reading it and the fun rhythm of the words. It was overall a really fun book!

Do you think that I think it was fun?! :-)

[Shani Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story helps readers understand the foundation for multiplication. A teacher could play a multiplication game after reading this story to their students. The following game was introduced by my professor, Dr. Smith. The multiplication game requires two student volunteers. The two students cannot look at their cards but show them to the rest of the class. The class tells them what the product of the two numbers are. The students face each other and have to guess their number. The student that guesses their number corretly fist wins the round.

[Hend Alalwani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age Rang: 5-8
Personal reaction:
-I like this book because it makes children learn about the double concept. The pictures are amazing, and those pictures describe the story very well. However, I do not like it because it is poor in vocabulary. They use simple word like “ big sniff, hungry, and taste good.”

Purpose:
-Read aloud for children from age five to eight.
-Discuss with the children the double concept. Also, this book would be a good resource for introduction to multiplication concept.

Curriculum:
-Read aloud for children.
-Discuss what is the next number will be.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story in counting and multiplication. Papa McFlay has many sons who help him out on the farm. Today he declares that no one will get to eat anything until their chores are done, but one by one the boys head to Minnie's Diner for a quick bit. Every time a new son shows up he orders twice what the earlier brother order.

Illustrations are really fun!

[Hye Eun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farm boys get hungry and every time each boy goes into the diner, he wants double of that. So 1 times 2 equals 2. Then when you double that, you get 4 then 8, and 16. This book would be good for teaching multiplication. I could have students act out the story using counters as food. Grade 2-3

[Luana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would use this book to teach multiplication. It vividly shows students multiplication doubles facts and allows students to see the concept through clever rhymes and easily understandable words. This book would be great to introduce multiplication to 2nd grade.

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad introduction to the basics of multiplying by two or doubling. The preschoolers enjoyed the rhyme but the higher math but have been lost on them. They were simply understood that the bigger the brother the more food. The illustrations were cartoonish but clear.

[Sade]

Great story to demonstrate multiplication and doubling. I would use this story in the classroom by reading it first and then allowing the students to act it out to see if they came up with the same results as the book. This is great way to have fun with a difficult concept.

[Jennifer Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book that gets multiplication involved. Kids can laugh along with the humor, yet can also answer math questions throughout the book. The concept of doubling is the focus. This book is also a great read along. Fun rhythm.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining tale that teaches about the power of doubling, or in other words the exponential growth of two. The narrative is fun to read aloud and the illustrations are very humorous. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Sharlene Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has comical illustrations and a singsong rhythm. A humorous lesson in multiplication.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This silly tale about doubling had me chuckling as I read. This would be a great lead into a lesson about multiplication patterns or using known facts to solve more difficult problems.