Betsy Franco, illus. by Priscilla Tey. Candlewick, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-5362-0116-1
Franco explores the joy of everyday mathematics in 20 rhyming poems sorted into four sections, and including topics such as a “Stinky Scale” rating malodorous scents, the “geometric math-terpiece” that is honeycomb, and numerical palindromes. A...
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Betsy Franco, illus. by Doug Cushman. Random/Tricycle, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-58246-384-1
In this counting book about doubling numbers, monkeys Jill (in pink overalls) and Jake (in stripes) find all sorts of applications for math on the playground: "With just their knees,/ they grip the bars./ They're upside-downside/ circus stars. 2...
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Betsy Franco, Author, Steve Jenkins, Illustrator , illus. by Steve Jenkins. S&S/McElderry $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4169-0386-4
The pair behind Birdsongs
tackles another science topic—geometry in the animal world. Whether addressing hexagonal beehive cells or a snail's spiral shell, brisk rhymes draw attention to nature's math, as in this description of moth
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Betsy Franco, Author, Stefano Vitale, Illustrator , illus. by Stefano Vitale. S&S/McElderry $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4169-4021-0
Rhythmic cadences and a dark palette are paired to explore the shadowy setting and circle of life for creatures that live near a pond. The majority of the book is a cumulative poem—“This is the water/ the deep, still water/ that filled...
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Betsy Franco, illus. by Michael Wertz, Random/Tricycle, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-58246-343-8
In an exuberant collection of concrete dog poems, a follow-up to A Curious Collection of Cats, the whimsy of Franco's poems is matched by the modern-meets-retro collages into which they are integrated. The titular dog in "Apollo at the Beach" yaps...
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Betsy Franco. F&W Media/Tyrus Books, $16.99 trade paper (240p) ISBN 978-1-4405-6634-9
Franco, the author of more 80 children's books, re-tells the tragic history of famed sculptor August Rodin's artistic muse, Camille Claudel (1864-1943), in a bittersweet modern fable more reminiscent of the recent Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris,
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Betsy Franco, illus. by Michael Wertz. Lerner/Millbrook, $19.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4677-2152-3
Franco and Wertz follow A Curious Collection of Cats and A Dazzling Display of Dogs with another entertaining grouping of concrete poems, this time focusing on undersea life. Most of the poems highlight a single animal: “Fairy-tale creature,/...
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