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Ten Sly Piranhas
Ten sly piranhas are swimming in a river, but one at a time they disappear, until there is only one left. Now that this proud overeater is the only surviving piranha, he is confident that he can eat anybody. But while he may be the cleverest fish in the river, he is no match for the giant crocodile lurking on the bank. Children will love learning to count backward in this crafty tale about one very hungry piranha.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
June 24, 2009
I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed this picture book. It is a really fun way to teach counting backwards from 10 to 1, as long the the children aren’t easily frightened. It is after all a story of piranhas who each one another until there is only 1, and then there are none.
I guess the illustrations are somewhat garish but I liked them. They’re colorful and they show other flora and fauna in an area where piranhas live.
This is a great read aloud book.
At the back of the book, there’s a one paragraph factual note about piranhas.
I guess the illustrations are somewhat garish but I liked them. They’re colorful and they show other flora and fauna in an area where piranhas live.
This is a great read aloud book.
At the back of the book, there’s a one paragraph factual note about piranhas.
September 14, 2015
A fun little children's counting book. We start with ten and end up with . My favorite part, after it's being about piranhas, are the very cool drawings of what is happening under water and what's happening on the land. There are iguanas, frogs, turtles, toucans and more. I think the end will be every kid's favorite part, where it is suggested that someone could read the book to them again!
April 1, 2021
Rating is my personal opinion. Children who think most books are boring or sappy will of course like this better. Paragraph at the end explains that sometimes they do indeed eat each other.
LFL find.
LFL find.
February 25, 2021
A childhood favorite of mine! While it's a good way to teach children subtraction (especially if your kiddo is a little morbid or fascinated by animals like I was), I do find that it holds a lot of reread value! Also pay attention to the art at the top of the pages as well, there's a really neat story there!
May 22, 2021
This book is perfect for not only teaching kids counting, but murder. Amusing for all ages. And perfectly horrid.
January 7, 2010
William Wise has done an excellent job with making this book both educational and morbid at the same time as the readers learn their numbers by counting the piranhas, but also get to see the piranhas being eaten in each page. William Wise has truly brought out the worst in villains as he displays the last piranha as the most wicked and cleverest of all the piranhas as the last piranha pulls out all sorts of tricks, such as making one of the piranhas trust him like a brother, in order to eat all the other piranhas. I usually enjoy villains who often deceive people because to me, that is the most wicked thing anyone could do to another person after the person gained trust for the deceptive person. This book also details how being deceptive towards other people can make a person truly corrupted, depending on the cause and parents may want to discuss with their children about how it is not a good idea to deceive people for the wrong reasons. Victoria Chess’ illustrations are colorful and sometimes creepy at the same time as she draws the piranhas with shifty eyes and sharp teeth, which reinforces the creepiness of this story. Also, Victoria Chess takes in great detail in making the jungle colorful, which brings life to the story. The most highlighted illustrations in this story would have to be of the depiction of the jungle animals being located on the top of the river while we see the piranhas in the river. The illustrations would show the jungle animals looking down upon the piranhas from the trees or from riverbanks while the piranhas perform their wicked ways, especially of the images where the animals watch the cleverest piranha eating the other piranhas.
“Ten Sly Piranhas” is indeed a clever book about counting and wickedness as it does a good job at teaching children how to count while at the same time, teaching children about the food chain in the wild. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children may need some reassuring for the eating scenes.
“Ten Sly Piranhas” is indeed a clever book about counting and wickedness as it does a good job at teaching children how to count while at the same time, teaching children about the food chain in the wild. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children may need some reassuring for the eating scenes.
June 2, 2009
Count down from ten, as one by one the piranhas devour each other. Written in catchy verse, the kids at storytime will eat this one up. What is it about kids and their love for stuff getting devoured? It's positively ghoulish, I tell you!
June 2, 2009
Try to get the copy that comes with an audiotape -- what a hoot! Great read-aloud with a surprise ending! Children will chime in!
May 10, 2021
Title: Ten Sly Piranhas
Author: William A. Wise
Illustrator: Victoria Chess
Genre: Fiction
Theme(s): Subtraction
Opening line/sentence: “Ten sly piranhas were swimming in the river. Ten hungry fishes hoping very much to dine.”
Brief Book Summary: Ten piranhas trick each other into eating each other, one by one. At the end, the last piranha was eaten by a crocodile, leaving zero, demonstrating each number from ten and one minus one.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Publishers Weekly wrote that this book falls short in rhythm and illustration. I would tend to disagree with this. I think that the book has great rhythm, and the vibrant, simple illustrations make the math easiest to understand. Kirkus Reviews wrote that the rhyming and rhythm make this story as exciting to read as the plot does. I agree, which is why I think I would deliver this book in the form of a song.
Tell Me Framework:
Like(s): I love the fun spin on subtraction, and how easy this book made it to follow the simple math with clear illustrations.
Dislike(s): There was nothing I disliked about this book.
Patterns(s): This book is repetitive, with “and with a gulp and a gurgle, there were only _” ending almost every page.
Puzzle(s): I wonder if students will be able to see past the fun of this story to realize the subtraction embedded.
Consideration of Instructional Application: At the turn of each page, demonstrate that the previous number minus one is the new number, because there is one less. I think I would try to sing this song and have students participate in the “and with a gulp and a gurgle, there were only _.” At the end of the book, we will review each math problem that we did, from 10-1 through 1-1.
Author: William A. Wise
Illustrator: Victoria Chess
Genre: Fiction
Theme(s): Subtraction
Opening line/sentence: “Ten sly piranhas were swimming in the river. Ten hungry fishes hoping very much to dine.”
Brief Book Summary: Ten piranhas trick each other into eating each other, one by one. At the end, the last piranha was eaten by a crocodile, leaving zero, demonstrating each number from ten and one minus one.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Publishers Weekly wrote that this book falls short in rhythm and illustration. I would tend to disagree with this. I think that the book has great rhythm, and the vibrant, simple illustrations make the math easiest to understand. Kirkus Reviews wrote that the rhyming and rhythm make this story as exciting to read as the plot does. I agree, which is why I think I would deliver this book in the form of a song.
Tell Me Framework:
Like(s): I love the fun spin on subtraction, and how easy this book made it to follow the simple math with clear illustrations.
Dislike(s): There was nothing I disliked about this book.
Patterns(s): This book is repetitive, with “and with a gulp and a gurgle, there were only _” ending almost every page.
Puzzle(s): I wonder if students will be able to see past the fun of this story to realize the subtraction embedded.
Consideration of Instructional Application: At the turn of each page, demonstrate that the previous number minus one is the new number, because there is one less. I think I would try to sing this song and have students participate in the “and with a gulp and a gurgle, there were only _.” At the end of the book, we will review each math problem that we did, from 10-1 through 1-1.
November 29, 2017
While a bit morbid and I thought for a moment my literal 'spirited' child wouldn't handle it well... we pursued through the morbid and ended up and the funny and silly. Ten Sly Piranhas teaches counting down from ten to none. There is poetic elements, alliteration, humor, images to capture discussion and more. It was a good one for our lesson.
We bought this to go along with Memoria Press Simply Classical Curriculum.
We bought this to go along with Memoria Press Simply Classical Curriculum.
December 10, 2018
An adorable, yet cool way to learn subtraction!
January 21, 2019
A counting book that also teaches children that how to count in reverse while also showing them that there is strength in numbers.
December 5, 2010
Absolutely fabulous book for k-1st. Counting back is an intriguing but very confusing concept for children to grasp because no one likes going backwards we are just not use to that. This book will be a great start to that discussion and also for re-visiting. I would provide children with chips/counter so that they can model the story. Great book for sequencing and retelling also.
February 16, 2011
This book is good when teaching children how to count backwards. Children often have hard time counting backwards for some reason but this book may help them out. However, it only goes up to ten so it is pretty limited. The story that went along as number of piranhas decreased was interesting and had a nice sequence that children can easily follow.
September 22, 2010
Children love to make ten. This book is a great way to teach sequencing and get children thinking about the different number that come before ten and make up ten. This book could lead to discussions about addition and subtraction. Pre-K to 2nd grade.
October 2, 2010
This books encourages the concept of counting back (or down) through subtraction. The book starts with 10 piranhas and as you read one piranha gets eaten at a time to show the use of counting back. It's a silly book that kids love to hear.
October 17, 2010
This book is a funny, cute book that children will enjoy. Teacher can use this book to integrate math and literacy, the pictures help children grasp the concept of counting down. Also teacher can use this book to promote predicting the next event (i.e. "what do you think will happen next").
November 14, 2010
Rhyming, counting, repetition...this math book has it all! A funny story about hungry piranhas eating each other will make the students laugh as they learn about math. They can also make predictions about what will happen to the next piranha!
Read
December 5, 2010There were ten piranhas swimming in the lake. They were coniving enough to convince each other into being eaten. They played a game and each time one piranha was gone it got down to the last piranha which was eaten by a crocodile.
February 16, 2011
This book fits better into the Pre-K/K classrooms. Good for when learning about counting down/backwards. Would be great if you had a fish puppet to go along with the book to get students interested. Again, another good book that would make a nice lesson which involves both literacy and mathematics.
April 18, 2011
Great book for teaching students counting backwards.
Music connection: can have students sing to the tune of "10 green bottles standing on the wall"
Rhyming style can be used to teach basic poetry writing.
Music connection: can have students sing to the tune of "10 green bottles standing on the wall"
Rhyming style can be used to teach basic poetry writing.
September 20, 2011
This is a take off of Ten Monkeys Jumping on the bed. Great for children that need counting help and are interested in jungle themes. Surprise at the end when the croc eats the last piranha. Colorful illustrations and variety of jungle animals.
January 25, 2009
Mommy says: Cute counting book.
November 20, 2009
A simple story about ten piranhas slowly disappearing. Helps students learn to count backwards from ten to one.
February 23, 2010
This book is great for counting back but I do not like that the fish eat eachother.
February 24, 2010
A great book for counting down from 10. The fiesty fish ate and ate, one, by one until there was non left.
February 26, 2010
This book is great for counting backwards. You can let the kids predict and see what number comes next before flipping the page.
March 1, 2010
This is a great book to read in the younger grades. It teaches counting back from ten. The students can predict the next number as the teacher reads the book.
March 3, 2010
this is a great book to use as an intoduction to a math lesson with counting. this book offers cute example of easy subtraction, with each page subtracting one less.
March 5, 2010
Strange book about fish eating other fish. Could be used to teach younger children subtraction... Good idea I just did not care for the fish eating each other..
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews