The+Grapes+of+Math

The Grapes of Math ﻿ By Greg Tang/ Illustrated by Harry Briggs **__ Summary __** ==== The Grapes of Math is a book of poems that correlate with pictures on adjoining pages. These poems and pictures all involve math problems for addition and subtraction. The poems are clever and the illustrations are clear. The goal of the book is to help children develop strategies that will help them with mental math, addition and subtraction, and repeated addition (which helps usher in understanding of multiplication). In the back section of the book, each page is listed with information the student would need to check their work. Each reviewed page has a brief summary of the strategy as well as the equation used. ====

**__ Recommendations __**
==== This book would best be used by children who have some knowledge about addition and subtraction, but do not yet have a firm mental understanding of the patterns and strategies that accompany these subjects. This could be used by individuals or in a small group setting. If used in a whole group setting, there should be plenty of student interaction involved. Also, this is not a book that should be read all at once. In fact, a good strategy for its use might be to display on each morning as an exercise for the brain. However, after the pattern has been explored by the children, it is important to highlight the strategy that the book is portraying in order to maximize its effect. ==== Greg Tang grew up in Ithaca, New York with his father, mother, and two sisters. He earned a B.A. and M.A. in Economics from Harvard University. He later earned an M.A. in Math Education from New York University. After a number of jobs in the business world, he began writing picture books for students that combine problem solving with arithmetic and integrates language and art. He also works with Harcourt publishing to create textbook programs for California, Texas, and the Carolinas. [|More Information About the Author]
 * __Information About the Author__**

**__Connections to Literacy__**
====Although this book does not contain a plot, characters, or setting, it could still be used in reading instruction. Since it contains a number of poems, it could be used to facilitate and illustrate techniques commonly used in poetry. The amount of illustrations in the book would also make it a successful resource for finding the meaning of words in context using picture clues.==== Home