Help Me Learn Addition

In this companion to Help Me Learn Numbers 0–20, Marzollo and Phillips teach basic addition skills by making use of rhymed verse and bright photographs of toys and other recognizable objects. In one spread, a word problem prompts readers to add up the riders on a toy train (“Here comes the math train/ straight from Penn!/ 7 plus 3/ equals 10”), while other scenes feature monster finger puppets and ceramic dogs. Concepts like “skip counting” and using tally marks are also introduced, although the rhymes can get overwrought in the process: “Spaceship babies/ want to know more./ Can we tell them what tally marks are for?/ Tally marks help/ us count today./ Here’s a math sentence/ the tally mark way.” Still, this is an inviting visual introduction to addition. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)