PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Annie Watson is an Assistant Professor of Education at Northern Arizona University and prior to that was a high school English teacher for nine years. She is the author of Is 2 A Lot?, and when not teaching or writing enjoys exploring the outdoors with her husband and two children. Rebecca Evans worked for nine years as an artist and designer before returning to her first love: children’s book illustration and writing. Her books include Someday I’ll Fly; Friends in Fur Coats; The Shopkeeper’s Bear; Naughty Nana; Mei Ling in China; Finding the Speed of Light (starred review, Kirkus); and Alone Like Me (starred review, Kirkus). She lives in Maryland with her husband and four young children, teaches art at the Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts, and works from her home studio whenever time permits. Rebecca’s boundless imagination enjoys free rein at www.rebeccaevans.net.
A picture book that accurately depicts how children think about numbers and values in a fun and engaging way. Readers will want to count the number of skunks, cowboys, and other imaginative creatures and objects Joey and his mother discuss throughout the book, and they will enjoy seeing various characters from the places they visit pile into the trunk of the station wagon. Children who are learning the meaning of value and numbers will both learn from this book, with its whimsical examples of what a lot means, and find much to enjoy. (Picture book. 4-6) -- Kirkus Reviews ...What is a lot to you, personally? The idea of turning that kind of discussion with a child into a book with a plot can be intimidating. Watson and Evans' solution seems to be to inject a little time travel into the proceedings. A boy and his mother are driving and he's peppering her with questions about numbers' worths. Eventually she comes up with concrete examples about why a number cannot be said to always be big or small. Stuff like, TWO is not a lot of pennies, but TWO is a lot of smelly skunks. There's a practicality to the book that's refreshing. -- Betsy Bird - FUSE #8 Production Looking for a great intro the world of numbers and math? Is 2 A Lot, written by Annie Watson and illustrated by Rebecca Evans, aims to help kids understand numbers in the context of things they see every day. Head out on a road trip while a young kiddo asks his mom questions like, Is one thousand a lot? Mom's answer? One thousand is not a lot of grains of sand, but it is a lot of hot air balloons! -- Amber Guetebier - Red Tricycle
