From School Library Journal
reS-Gr 2-Murphy's humorous text indirectly teaches about sets as Turtle sits down to enjoy his thick green, gooey seaweed soup. Each time unsuspecting friends come by, they are invited to lunch and Turtle goes to his shelf to find extra place settings. When he runs out of an item, he makes another set with substitutes. For instance, a jelly jar serves for a cup, a toy shovel becomes a spoon, etc. Children will enjoy the story and its surprising ending while learning about the concept. The bright watercolor cartoons by the artist of "Froggy" fame lend a deft and humorous touch to the proceedings. The last pages have tips for further fun with math, suggestions for activities around the house, plus a short list of other stories with similar concepts. Well worth considering.
Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Ages 3-5. In this level 1 MathStart book, Murphy introduces the concepts of matching sets, or one-to-one-correspondence. On a sunny beach, Turtle makes a batch of seaweed soup and invites his friends Crab, Sandpiper, Seagull, and Clam to join him for lunch. One by one, his friends come to the table, requiring Turtle to produce an additional place setting. The lunch is a success, and at the close, Turtle produces another whole pot of the savory stuff. Adults will want to read through this book before sharing it with children so that they can guide discussion about Turtle's table-setting dilemma. A graph will help children review what they've learned, and two pages of ideas for extending the book are appended. Remkiewicz's appealing illustrations encourage children to match sets and count items in each set.
Kathy BroderickCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
