Marvelous Math A Book of Poems

Marvelous Math a Book of Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Karen Barbour. This book of selected poems is geared towards children ages 5 and up. I think this makes sense because I am unsure if kids really understand what math is before they are 5. But, at the same time parents could read this to younger children when learning about numbers and colors. I think they could use this with colors because each page has illustrations throughout the page that are filled with bright colors that catch the eye. I really enjoyed reading each of these poems. I love math and numbers so I thought that have a book full of math poems was great! This book would be great to use in a classroom when discussing that different places we see numbers and use numbers every day. I think that reading this book as a read aloud may help break the ice when discussing numbers. This would be a good idea because for a lot of kids, math is tricky, and saying 'its math time' may turn them away. But, if you start with a story it may help ease them in to wanting to learn more about numbers. Although I liked many of the poems in this book, I liked 'Time Passes' by Ilo Orleans a lot.

"Sixty seconds
Pass in a minute.
Sixty minutes
Pass in an hour.
Twenty-four hours
Pass in a day -
And that's how TIME
keeps passing away!"

I like this poem because it relates time, something we use and discuss daily, to math and numbers and may help begin a discussion. I enjoyed the color, illustrations, and poems used throughout this book and would recommend people read it in their classroom as well as extra stories read at home.