Project Popcorn
By (Author) Laura Driscoll
Illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez
Astra Publishing House
The Kane Press
10th January 2021
United States
Children
Fiction
Early years: numbers and counting
FIC
Paperback
32
Width 167mm, Height 230mm, Spine 4mm
102g
DiscoverMathMatters!With over 15 million books sold worldwide, this award-winning series of easy-to-read books will help young readers ages 5-8 approachmathwith enthusiasm. Great for fans of MathStart or Step into ReadingMath. The Community Champs have an extra-special fundraiser this year-donating Thanksgiving dinners to families in need. William and Lizzie are on a mission to sell more popcorn tins than ever before! With engaging stories that connectmathto kids' everyday lives, eachbook in the Teachers' Choice Award-winningMathMattersseriesfocuses on a single concept and reinforcesmathvocabulary and skills.Bonus activities in the back of each bookfeaturemathand reading comprehension questions,and evenmore free activities online add to the fun!(Math topic-Mean, Median, Mode, Range).
Primary-grade math concepts come into play when a club must decide the best way to sell their charity popcorn.
The Community Champions are a varied cast of kids--an unobtrusive mix of genders, races, and one who uses a wheel-chair--who do good works around town. Occasionally Driscoll drifts into the too angelic: "The Champs were quiet as they read the messages" of thanks from previous year's Thanksgiving project. Other times she speaks what's better left unsaid: "The more popcorn we sell, the more families we help!" Lizzie burbles. But for the most part, the kids are trying to maximize sales through the deployment of business math--this book is part of the Math Matters series, each of which targets a specific math concept--including distribution and averaging, with terms such as median, mean, value, mode, and range set aside as boxed items for further explanations. The kids even learn how to compete with the grocery store to find the best price margin. In the end, the artwork (mostly depictions of swarms of kids having a good time) and the text feel right: their teacher is proud of their spirit, and the kids get a warm feeling from doing something selfless and meaningful. Three other Math Matters titles publish simultaneously: A Fishy Mystery, by Lisa Harkrader and illustrated by Cary Pillo, introduces Venn Diagrams; Let's Go, Snow!, by Eleanor May and also illustrated by Pillo, looks at temperature measurement; and Otto and the New Girl, by Nan Walker and illustrated by Amy Wummer, explores symmetry.
-- "Journal" (2/15/2017 12:00:00 AM)Laura Driscoll is a children's book author and editor. She has written numerous published works for kids, including several easy-to-read books. She lives in Middletown, Connecticut, with her husband and two children. Shirley Ng-Benitez loves to draw! Since 1998, she has owned gabbyandco.com, a design firm, and is now living her dream illustrating and writing picture books in the Bay Area, California.