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MathStart Level 2
Coyotes All Around (Mathstart: Level 2
Clever Coyote thinks it's time for lunch -- and also time to show her friends how, with some simple rounding, she can add up numbers in her head. If only she were as good at hunting as she is at math!
40 pages, Library Binding
First published August 19, 2003
51 people want to read
About the author
Stuart J. Murphy
158 books60 followersPICTURES & WORDS, STORIES & BOOKS
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com
I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.
I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.
I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.
MATHSTART
The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.
The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.
Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )
THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL
Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”
STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN
My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.
I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.
Each book is reviewed by a tea
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com
I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.
I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.
I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.
MATHSTART
The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.
The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.
Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )
THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL
Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”
STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN
My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.
I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.
Each book is reviewed by a tea
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 21, 2012
Coyotes All Around
Stuart J. Murphy
Grade: 2
Content:
> Observation and estimation are the main to essential components of this book
In this book a group of coyotes is looking for their prey. As they spot potential prey, the observe the prey for a while and then estimate how many there are. This book is a great book to use when explaining how observation and estimation are used in science. In addition to this, it walks the reader through the process of how they estimated and added. Throughout the book, it gives facts facts about the animals in the book as well.
Stuart J. Murphy
Grade: 2
Content:
> Observation and estimation are the main to essential components of this book
In this book a group of coyotes is looking for their prey. As they spot potential prey, the observe the prey for a while and then estimate how many there are. This book is a great book to use when explaining how observation and estimation are used in science. In addition to this, it walks the reader through the process of how they estimated and added. Throughout the book, it gives facts facts about the animals in the book as well.
May 10, 2020
In this one a trio of coyotes are doing the math by using the rounding out method, where you get regular numbers closer to something with a zero, that way the equation is easier to solve. For a bunch of wily coyotes hungry for road runners, these dudes are genius!!!! Kids 2-6 should love it!
Three stars
Two plus two equals OWOOOO!
Three stars
Two plus two equals OWOOOO!
January 31, 2013
We've been reading lots of different books in the various MathStart series by Stuart J. Murphy. This book is in the MathStart Level 2 series and introduces the concept of estimation and rounding to children.
The narrative is funny and we loved the funny, snarky coyotes. The math is simple and we enjoyed working out the problems in our head along with the story. The illustrations are fun and help explain the concepts well. We also liked the interesting facts about the animals scattered throughout the story. We enjoyed reading this book together.
The narrative is funny and we loved the funny, snarky coyotes. The math is simple and we enjoyed working out the problems in our head along with the story. The illustrations are fun and help explain the concepts well. We also liked the interesting facts about the animals scattered throughout the story. We enjoyed reading this book together.
January 30, 2012
Rounding can be fun with Coyotes All Around! The coyotes are very hungry and want to eat the road runners for dinner. There is a problem though: what if there is not enough for each coyote? One coyote steps up and decides to round to help him figure out if there will be one road runner for each coyote to eat. Sometimes, the coyote rounds the wrong way and the children were able to correct him while I read this story. I asked them "how did you know that the coyote rounded the wrong way?" The students loved being engaged and correcting the coyote. This is a great introduction or review to simple rounding.
April 14, 2012
This book would be great in a classroom for a lesson about rounding. It has likable characters that students will enjoy, and explains rounding in a way that can be demonstrated to the class as the book is being read. I would recommend this this book for 2nd-5th grade since it would work well as a review or introduction. One of the best things about this book is that it has suggested activities in the back that relate to the story and can be implemented in a classroom.
March 9, 2012
This books addresses rounding, and is a great way to either introduce or review the concept, as well teaching students different methods for solving math problems. The book also addresses story problems, because students must listen to understand the context of the problem. Another great way to integrate literacy with a math lesson.
November 22, 2012
This book teaches the concept of rounding. After we read the book, I would let students play "Rounding BINGO". They would write tens on their board such as 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 etc. I will then call out a number such as 37. They will then put a chip on number 40 because 37 rounding to the nearest ten would be 40. This would be a fun way for them to understand the concept of rounding a number.
April 12, 2010
Great book to teach about rounding. It makes it easier for children to understand concept of why rounding is useful. A teacher also added a song to go along with the book.
"1,2,3,4 round down. 5,6,7,8,9 Round up...."
"1,2,3,4 round down. 5,6,7,8,9 Round up...."
April 25, 2010
This was a clever book on using coyotes in their habitat whom are very hungry for lunch. The clever coyote quickly counts up the roadrunners that he will eat for lunch because he knows how to round numbers and add them.
February 28, 2012
Such a fun book to show rounding. Useful when modeling the rounding along side reading the story. Best used if used to introduce rounding and then re read at the end of the unit. Fun games and lessons in the back to help assess the students.
April 16, 2012
This books discusses rounding in a fun, interesting way. It also includes cool facts about the animals in the story. It gives a visual for rounding to go with what is read. It also has some great activities at the end.
April 12, 2010
Wonderful book to use to teach rounding. Children will be actively engaged as they try to figure out if "clever coyote" is correct.
December 3, 2012
This book helps young children with counting. The interesting book keeps the reader's attention. Counting activities would follow the read aloud.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews