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Do Not Open This Math Book: Addition + Subtraction
Learn at home with help from The Wonder Years /Hallmark actress, math whiz, and New York Times bestselling author Danica McKellar using her acclaimed McKellar Math books! Addition and subtraction are as easy as 1+2+3 with this fun and accessible introduction to the essentials of math. This funny and educational book will have readers embracing math instead of fearing it.
Finally, a FUN book to read with kids that helps bridge the gap between what's being taught in school and how today's parents learned math back in the day. Giggle your way through entertaining lessons on addition and subtraction involving muffins, turkey sandwiches, kittens, googly eyes, and more!
Danica McKellar uses her proven math techniques to give children the solid grasp of addition and subtraction that will be key to their success and unlock their potential in the classroom and beyond!
You will WANT to open this math book!
Finally, a FUN book to read with kids that helps bridge the gap between what's being taught in school and how today's parents learned math back in the day. Giggle your way through entertaining lessons on addition and subtraction involving muffins, turkey sandwiches, kittens, googly eyes, and more!
Danica McKellar uses her proven math techniques to give children the solid grasp of addition and subtraction that will be key to their success and unlock their potential in the classroom and beyond!
You will WANT to open this math book!
160 pages, Paperback
First published June 26, 2018
60 people are currently reading
160 people want to read
About the author
Danica McKellar
21 books172 followersAmerican actress and mathematician.
She is best known for her role as Winnie Cooper in the television show The Wonder Years.
Now she is known as author of the nationally bestselling book, Math Doesn't Suck, which encourages and empowers middle-school girls with mathematics know-how.
Math Doesn't Suck was so popular McKellar wrote more novels about math, including Kiss My Math and Hot X. She also wrote a sequel to Math Doesn't Suck for years 6 through 9.
McKellar shows many people that just because you are an actor, that doesn't mean you are stupid. Although she is best known through The Wonder Years, that doesn't mean she isn't a wonderful writer and great mathematician.
She is best known for her role as Winnie Cooper in the television show The Wonder Years.
Now she is known as author of the nationally bestselling book, Math Doesn't Suck, which encourages and empowers middle-school girls with mathematics know-how.
Math Doesn't Suck was so popular McKellar wrote more novels about math, including Kiss My Math and Hot X. She also wrote a sequel to Math Doesn't Suck for years 6 through 9.
McKellar shows many people that just because you are an actor, that doesn't mean you are stupid. Although she is best known through The Wonder Years, that doesn't mean she isn't a wonderful writer and great mathematician.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 16, 2018
I really enjoyed this beginning math/subtraction book. Although geared towards elementary children, I think this book has potential for anyone struggling with the basics of addition and subtraction. Working with students from kindergarten through 6th grade and some struggling adult learners, I think this book is a gem.
What makes this book fantastic in my eyes, is the way the concepts are presented. There are great visuals displaying the information and fantastic ideas to help bring the concepts to life. Danica’s language that she uses to get her point across in this book is fabulous. I found this book entertaining and educational, and although some concepts she builds upon immediately, sometimes she leaves a concept and later comes back to it adding to it.
From adding basic numbers together to subtracting two-digit number, Danica shows how to do that visually and by reading this text, it seems as if she’s right there beside you. There’s a cute, little mouse as Danica sidekick in the book, who is reluctant to learn but with Danica’s help, he starts to learn and is successful.
There is a section on place value, fact families, mental math, regrouping, and then subtracting with borrowing. Like I mentioned before, she starts out basic and moves into more complex material but it’s a gradual shift. The books language is positive and in reading the book, it’s as if you had your own teacher right there with you explaining the concepts. I think using this book with a child would be very beneficial and for children who can read, the ability for them to work through this book on their own would be valuable and an accomplishment. There are games, exercises and lots of examples inside this book. Thank you, Danica, for creating this book, what a terrific book teaching these concepts. I highly recommend checking out this book.
Excerpt: (how readable and positive the book’s language is)
“Just so you know, the whole point in moving the buns to “fill in a tin” is so we can turn these problems into the easy ones we saw on the chart on page 26, like 10 + 5 = 15 and 10 + 6 + 16. By filling the tins wherever we can, we’ll be making the problems easy, like magic.”
What makes this book fantastic in my eyes, is the way the concepts are presented. There are great visuals displaying the information and fantastic ideas to help bring the concepts to life. Danica’s language that she uses to get her point across in this book is fabulous. I found this book entertaining and educational, and although some concepts she builds upon immediately, sometimes she leaves a concept and later comes back to it adding to it.
From adding basic numbers together to subtracting two-digit number, Danica shows how to do that visually and by reading this text, it seems as if she’s right there beside you. There’s a cute, little mouse as Danica sidekick in the book, who is reluctant to learn but with Danica’s help, he starts to learn and is successful.
There is a section on place value, fact families, mental math, regrouping, and then subtracting with borrowing. Like I mentioned before, she starts out basic and moves into more complex material but it’s a gradual shift. The books language is positive and in reading the book, it’s as if you had your own teacher right there with you explaining the concepts. I think using this book with a child would be very beneficial and for children who can read, the ability for them to work through this book on their own would be valuable and an accomplishment. There are games, exercises and lots of examples inside this book. Thank you, Danica, for creating this book, what a terrific book teaching these concepts. I highly recommend checking out this book.
Excerpt: (how readable and positive the book’s language is)
“Just so you know, the whole point in moving the buns to “fill in a tin” is so we can turn these problems into the easy ones we saw on the chart on page 26, like 10 + 5 = 15 and 10 + 6 + 16. By filling the tins wherever we can, we’ll be making the problems easy, like magic.”
November 30, 2018
This was a fun book and it has great ideas for games / practice and is a useful tool for parents / teachers. However, since it’s geared toward 1st and 2nd grade students, it would have been helpful to use simpler language and shorter passages, at least in some areas, so that students could read and practice on their own.
April 17, 2021
This book is fun and makes math easy to understand. I highly recommend this book as it will help parents refresh their math skills as well as give them and their children tools to increase math confidence.
October 16, 2018
As a homeschooling mom, a middle school math teacher and math tutor I have met a lot of students who need a little different explanation of even simple math, like addition and subtraction. I have experienced that frustration with early math really effect their whole math experience so early success is so important. This book is a fantastic resource for early success. The expalintions are fun and creative. The games and activities are really fun and can be used at random times somthat you can show how to incorporate math in daily life. And this book would be so fun for those who love math as well. I would have loved the games and activities as a child. I loved learning to incorporate math wherever I could. It’s a great book! I’d highly recommend.
October 15, 2018
I am totally lost with the common core math and i made A's in math in school. So this book is for myself as well as my 6 year old grandson. I love the illustrations and how the pages flow with the explanations. I like the fact that the answers are in the back of the book and that they have a "game" to play every once in a while. I know we will have to use the book many time over the next few years. Especially his mother and I LOL. The layout of the pages is very clear and i love the MOUSE. He is a cute addition. The book is a must for anyone that has a child or grandchild in this age frame.
January 10, 2019
This is a great book for parents, teachers, and kids--it breaks down how to teach and understand the "new math" (the way math is taught in schools now) for K-3. I have students who pick it up and read it, teachers use it, and the math coach at my school loves it, too. It breaks down concepts so nicely, and it's also adorable. Some students won't be able to read it on their own, but they'll enjoy looking at it with a parent, and parents will love that they'll be able to help their children with math homework.
October 5, 2019
For a math book, this was really good. I read it with some of my kids in mind and I wasn't disappointed. The author does a great job of relating my "old math" to some of the "new math" so that I understand better what my kids are learning in school. She also does a wonderful job of presenting several different ways for you to think about addition and subtraction, presenting tools for your kids to use. Pick what works the best for them and they can run with it. I look forward to reading some of her other books.
August 3, 2018
Well, now I finally know what it means to add 3-digit numbers in expanded form. McKellar does an excellent job of explaining things like 10 frames and number bonds, which I still find annoying but oh, well. Would recommend to any parent to work through with their early elementary students.
March 12, 2023
I'm in my 60s and learned a whole nother way and the thought of NEW MATH seemed foreign to me. I wanted to read this book to see if I could understand the new concepts. It's basically all the same but explained in more/different detail than from what I remember. Terms are different. I could see how things are different, yet the same!
Math is explained in terms of turkey sammies and snuggling kittens. Regrouping = carrying or piggyback. Ungrouping = borrowing with boxes of googly eyes. Math problems need to be in their proper freeway lanes!
Danica and her mouse friend, who is afraid of math, guide the reader through the book. The mouse is sometimes mildly inappropriate which I'm sure would appeal to a little kids sense of humor.
The book has a lot of math problems for the reader to work, and although the pages are a little slick, you can write on them with a soft pencil. Or just photocopy the pages.
My fave/a sample of the writing: "When you were little, did you ever play piggyback, maybe on your parents' shoulders or an older sibling's back? You know, you climb up and they carry you? Pretty soon our numbers are going to do the same thing... What if we have something like this: 25 + 48? First we'll pile 'em up like snuggling kittens, and then write in the freeway lanes so everybody minds their own business and doesn't crash into each other.
At first it might seem like nothing special, but check it out: When we add the ones column, we get 5+8=13. hmm, we can't write the entire 13 in the ones column or we'll get the wrong answer! Well, what is 13? It's 1 ten and 3 ones, right? So we put 3 in the ones column, and then we take the 1 ten, and we have it ride piggyback on top of the tens column! Because think about it: we've created a whole new ten, and it needs to go in the tens column--that's where it belongs.
We're going to call this regrouping, which is probably what they call it at your school. Some people--including your parents, maybe--call this 'carrying'.
I liked!
Math is explained in terms of turkey sammies and snuggling kittens. Regrouping = carrying or piggyback. Ungrouping = borrowing with boxes of googly eyes. Math problems need to be in their proper freeway lanes!
Danica and her mouse friend, who is afraid of math, guide the reader through the book. The mouse is sometimes mildly inappropriate which I'm sure would appeal to a little kids sense of humor.
The book has a lot of math problems for the reader to work, and although the pages are a little slick, you can write on them with a soft pencil. Or just photocopy the pages.
My fave/a sample of the writing: "When you were little, did you ever play piggyback, maybe on your parents' shoulders or an older sibling's back? You know, you climb up and they carry you? Pretty soon our numbers are going to do the same thing... What if we have something like this: 25 + 48? First we'll pile 'em up like snuggling kittens, and then write in the freeway lanes so everybody minds their own business and doesn't crash into each other.
At first it might seem like nothing special, but check it out: When we add the ones column, we get 5+8=13. hmm, we can't write the entire 13 in the ones column or we'll get the wrong answer! Well, what is 13? It's 1 ten and 3 ones, right? So we put 3 in the ones column, and then we take the 1 ten, and we have it ride piggyback on top of the tens column! Because think about it: we've created a whole new ten, and it needs to go in the tens column--that's where it belongs.
We're going to call this regrouping, which is probably what they call it at your school. Some people--including your parents, maybe--call this 'carrying'.
I liked!
August 10, 2018
I think this is a fun book.
I do not think any kid actually will open the book and read it - if they are advanced enough to read the book, then they are likely advanced enough to already know how to add and subtract. But it could be very fun for an advanced math student in elementary school to go back and try to understand addition and subtraction better.
What I do think this is good for, and this is clearly the intent of the book, is to help parents (who
often don't really understand math as much as they would like to), help their younger elementary aged kids with their math. I believe this book is an excellent resource for the parent who wants to help their kid learn and is willing to put in the time to do so. P.S. here: don't do your kids' homework for them. I know it helps their grades look better, but it doesn't help them.
Also, true to McKellar's style, this book is cute and funny. Definitely worth looking at if you have young kids!
I do not think any kid actually will open the book and read it - if they are advanced enough to read the book, then they are likely advanced enough to already know how to add and subtract. But it could be very fun for an advanced math student in elementary school to go back and try to understand addition and subtraction better.
What I do think this is good for, and this is clearly the intent of the book, is to help parents (who
often don't really understand math as much as they would like to), help their younger elementary aged kids with their math. I believe this book is an excellent resource for the parent who wants to help their kid learn and is willing to put in the time to do so. P.S. here: don't do your kids' homework for them. I know it helps their grades look better, but it doesn't help them.
Also, true to McKellar's style, this book is cute and funny. Definitely worth looking at if you have young kids!
August 18, 2023
This book is very good. I contemplated giving it just 4 stars because it isn't a comprehensive math course, but I don't think it's trying to be. As a supplement or a unit on addition and subtraction, this book is fantastic.
As a math teacher, I understand the difficulties in helping kids make the leap from countable objects to symbolic representations. Danica McKellar has great real-world analogies that make that fairly simple. She also refrains from telling kids "This is the fastest way, so hurry up and learn this way." She shows multiple valid methods and tells them to use the one that makes the most sense to their brains.
I also really appreciate that her affection for math really comes through. This isn't a "Ugh, math, but you gotta do it" book, it's a "Math is so fun and cool and makes your brain stronger!" book.
If you are an adult who needs to help any number of children learn addition and subtraction, this is a great resource for both of you.
As a math teacher, I understand the difficulties in helping kids make the leap from countable objects to symbolic representations. Danica McKellar has great real-world analogies that make that fairly simple. She also refrains from telling kids "This is the fastest way, so hurry up and learn this way." She shows multiple valid methods and tells them to use the one that makes the most sense to their brains.
I also really appreciate that her affection for math really comes through. This isn't a "Ugh, math, but you gotta do it" book, it's a "Math is so fun and cool and makes your brain stronger!" book.
If you are an adult who needs to help any number of children learn addition and subtraction, this is a great resource for both of you.
January 21, 2019
Gettings kids to have a happy attitude about math may start with cuddling up in a parent’s lap and reading this carefully crafted picture book. Danika McKellar created the book for adults to explain how addition and subtraction work using real-life examples and the hyginx of a mouse. Organized like a textbook, parents can find topics their child might be learning in school. Some of the lessons breakdown teaching strategies used by curriculum teaching to the Common Core Standards. The book provides enough games and activities to explore mathematical concepts over a summer or during a few months. Simple illustrations and explanations make this a great fit for anyone wanting to help children begin their math journey in a positive way.
September 23, 2020
I'm finding this to be a really useful homeschool text. I like that it gives kids a solid understanding of mathematical understanding and strategies rather than being focused on repetitive equations.
Miss 6 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
Miss 6 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
January 4, 2025
This book uses many different animals and methods to teach readers the math concepts of addition and subtraction. Some examples include using stairs to chase after a rambunctious puppy, or a frog hopping on a number line. This book is filled with fun and engaging ways to analyze math concepts. A fact family could be viewed as components of a sandwich. Perhaps if I were aware of the McKellar math series when I was in math classes, the subject would not have been daunting and grueling.
July 17, 2018
This book teaches multiple ways to do addition and subtraction. I think this could be a handy supplemental guide to help parents teach addition and subtraction to their child but unlikely to be something a child would work through independently.
May 30, 2019
Do Not Open This Math Book provides a good time while refreshing or building addition and subtraction skills. Working through the chapters doesn't feel like a suffering chore. Instead it feels like a doable challenge.
Entertaining and educational. What a relief!
Entertaining and educational. What a relief!
August 26, 2019
Good humor (puns, mostly) and clear explanation of "new math" lingo. Thomas's review explains the disconnect between the literacy needed to comprehend the arithmetic literacy being taught: probably a good choice for early readers.
June 27, 2018
A fun and good book about math. Hopefully, the title will make kids want to read it. Also, it has a lot of humorous illustrations.
September 1, 2018
McKellar clearly explains addition and subtraction so elementary students can understand. This is a book to be read with an adult.
October 15, 2018
This book is a fun way to learn Math. My grandfather always made us work on Math problems to earn spending money. He would have absolutely loved how creative this book is!!
May 8, 2019
A great way for beginning math students to learn addition and subtraction.
July 11, 2019
This book saved my 6 year old from hating math. Hooray for mouse cartoons in math books! She thought that were hilarious, and we could actually learn math concepts without tears.
August 17, 2020
Simple language and illustrations of concepts, make this a great resource to develop and practice mental math facts at home.
October 20, 2020
I love the word bubble format. Kids will enjoy the bright colors and fun examples!
October 24, 2022
This is an excellent book to help children (and honestly their parents) understand addition and subtraction conceptually. Elementary math isn't just memorization anymore!
August 22, 2018
A good resource for early elementary.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews