Customer Reviews

Great Estimations

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
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I bought this book for my five-year-old, and my seven-year-old can't put it down. They both want it for their bedtime book, which is fine by me. This book is fun, engaging and smart. The author does a great job making numbers, even the really big ones, less scary and easier to conceptualize. The photographs are creatively done and compelling to look at. This book belongs in every elementary school and any home with young chidren. I estimate that I'll read this book to my children hundreds of times - this week!

My six-year-old son loves it--the pictures are great. I must say, I learned something about estimating, too. Good fun for the whole family.

This book uses mathematical facts and excellent pictures to help children and adults alike understand and practice estimation skills.

Inspired my kids to estimate all over the place, and the full-color photos have major kid-appeal (including plastic bugs and tiny doll shoes). My three-year-old calls it the Jelly Bean Book.

A must for the math section of any kid's bookcase or any teacher's classroom.

A couple weeks back we held the annual book fair at two of the elementary schools I work at. One of the ways the book fair organizers hyped the kids into a froth was through a little game called "guess how many marshmallows are in the the jar". The student who guessed the number closest to the actual number of marshmallows won the whole jar of `em. I'm guessing most of you have taken part in something similar in your day. The problem? Half of the guesses were for one hundred, the other were for one million. For kids, it seems, there is not a whole lot in between. In Great Estimations, the author breaks down how to make a killing at "guess how many marshmallows are in the jar". How I wish this book had been around in my younger days - the hot chocolate would be flowing like water, with plenty of those little puffs of sugar spilling out of the top. The book uses a variety of objects, from people to pennies all in the name of teaching the reader how to make an accurate estimate.

While I don't foresee many repeat readings, there is a lot to like in Great Estimations.

My first grader saw this at a Math event at the local junior college, and loved it. I found it on Amazon, and it's great fun. She loves estimating things and this has shown her some great 'tricks'. I ordered extras and they're now our favorite birthday party present. it's something they'll enjoy now, and continue to use for years to come.

Take a good look at the book cover. Quick, how many jelly beans are there? If you have no idea, open the book and be amazed!

The clear, colorful photos in Great Estimations are more than just picture puzzles. From pencils and gummy bears to a flock of penguins and a pile of rice grains, each page offers progressively more complex groups of items. How many pretzels are there? How many bunnies?

In brief, conversational text, Great Estimations walks the reader through the art of estimating quantities quickly and easily. No exact answers are given; the goal of each puzzle is to reach a "reasonable estimate," coming close to the real number.

The book begins with eye training: learning to recognize groups of 10, 100, 1,000. Interesting pictures of simple objects make this easier than it sounds.

Next come specific techniques. Clump counting includes counting by tens and looking for patterns. Box and count is another way to get a handle on very large groups.

Estimating has practical applications. For example, how much is your penny collection worth? No need to count every cent; weigh the total and estimate!

Although presented in picture-book format, this attractive handbook has a wider potential audience. Young children who can't count yet will enjoy the detailed pictures and start to develop concepts of "few" and "many." The tips on estimating will be most helpful to someone who already understands multiplication and counting by fives and tens. Adults who consider themselves "math-challenged" will be delighted to discover that estimating is something they can do well.

A final section on "greater estimations" moves from objects spread on a flat surface to three-dimensional estimating. Now you can estimate the number of jelly beans not just on the book's cover but in a fishbowl. It's a skill that could be very handy for winning prizes at a fair, festival, or grand opening.