Children's Literature
*It's very important to integrate Math ans Literacy together to get optimum learning. To do that, you can use children's literature that incorporates the two together.
Cubes, Cones, and Cylinders by: Tana Hoban
![Picture](/uploads/1/4/9/6/14960154/1353875486.png)
Age Appropriateness: All the mathematical content presented in this book aligns with the information that your son or daughter is learning in class. It also aligns with the Pennsylvania State Standards set up for First Grade.
Theme: Math in everyday life.
Front and Back Matter: In the front matter, it pictures one of each of the shapes that are included in the whole book. It shows a picture of the shape, and right next to it is the name, identifying what shape it is. The back matter has a review of the book stating, "Hoban's talent for taking everyday things and gloriously capturing them in her photos is what makes her books amazing." - ALA Booklist. *In more advanced books, you may find things like a glossary, index, appendix, or table of contents.
Illustrations: All the illustrations in the book are content appropriate. They are all taken of objects that we can see every day on our way to work, school, etc. They are bright and colorful and will attract the eye of your child as he or she pages through the book.
Visual features: The only visual thing about this book are the pictures. In more advanced books, some of the visual features might include bold, italicized, or underlined fonts, and headings, or tables and graphs.
Vocabulary Content: Since this is strictly a wordless picture book, the only vocabulary that is incorporated into this book are the words cube, cone, sphere, and cylinder. The vocabulary is introduced in the beginning so the child knows what 3D shapes to look for.
Storyline: Being able to incorporate Geometry in real life and looking at your surroundings to realize how much Geometry is surrounding you.
Readability Score: A readability score could not be figured out for this book because there weren't any words. A readability score is a system where you look at the number of words and the number of syllables to come up with a reading level. Without any words or syllable to look at, this was not possible, but it was leveled at a Pre-K to 3rd Grade level when researching about it.
Writing style: With being a wordless picture book, it has a good flow to it through the pictures. There isn't a writing style through words, but through the pictures. They all fit together and aren't completely out of the ordinary.
Authentic or fictionalized: This book is very authentic. You can't get much more authentic than pictures of real life objects in real life occurrences.
Accuracy: This book had only accurate information in it. All the objects in the pictures could be categorized into a cube, cone, sphere, or cylinder, which will allow your child to master the knowledge of these shapes.
Hoban, Tana. (2000). Cubes, Cones, and Cylinders. n.p. Green.
Theme: Math in everyday life.
Front and Back Matter: In the front matter, it pictures one of each of the shapes that are included in the whole book. It shows a picture of the shape, and right next to it is the name, identifying what shape it is. The back matter has a review of the book stating, "Hoban's talent for taking everyday things and gloriously capturing them in her photos is what makes her books amazing." - ALA Booklist. *In more advanced books, you may find things like a glossary, index, appendix, or table of contents.
Illustrations: All the illustrations in the book are content appropriate. They are all taken of objects that we can see every day on our way to work, school, etc. They are bright and colorful and will attract the eye of your child as he or she pages through the book.
Visual features: The only visual thing about this book are the pictures. In more advanced books, some of the visual features might include bold, italicized, or underlined fonts, and headings, or tables and graphs.
Vocabulary Content: Since this is strictly a wordless picture book, the only vocabulary that is incorporated into this book are the words cube, cone, sphere, and cylinder. The vocabulary is introduced in the beginning so the child knows what 3D shapes to look for.
Storyline: Being able to incorporate Geometry in real life and looking at your surroundings to realize how much Geometry is surrounding you.
Readability Score: A readability score could not be figured out for this book because there weren't any words. A readability score is a system where you look at the number of words and the number of syllables to come up with a reading level. Without any words or syllable to look at, this was not possible, but it was leveled at a Pre-K to 3rd Grade level when researching about it.
Writing style: With being a wordless picture book, it has a good flow to it through the pictures. There isn't a writing style through words, but through the pictures. They all fit together and aren't completely out of the ordinary.
Authentic or fictionalized: This book is very authentic. You can't get much more authentic than pictures of real life objects in real life occurrences.
Accuracy: This book had only accurate information in it. All the objects in the pictures could be categorized into a cube, cone, sphere, or cylinder, which will allow your child to master the knowledge of these shapes.
Hoban, Tana. (2000). Cubes, Cones, and Cylinders. n.p. Green.
The Greedy Triangle by: Marilyn Burns
illustrated by: Gordon Silveria
![Picture](/uploads/1/4/9/6/14960154/9281637.png?1)
Age Appropriateness: Some of the vocabulary in this book is a little above a first grade level. The child most likely would have some difficulty reading this book on his or her own, but once read to he or she should be able to go through it pretty well. All the mathematical content presented in this book aligns with the information that your son or daughter is learning in class. It also aligns with the Pennsylvania State Standards set up for First Grade.
Theme: Making the most out of what you have in life.
Front and Back Matter: The front and back matter of this book are very helpful to parents and teachers using the book with their children or students. There are various ideas to springboard from this book and come up with activities to build your child's knowledge even farther than just reading the book. The pages following the story are very helpful, and you can tell the author planned very extensively to help make it a learning tool for all.
Illustrations: All the illustrations in the book are content appropriate. They are bright and colorful and capture the attention of the reader. The illustrator did an excellent job of capturing the emotion of the Greedy Triangle and the shape was moving from shape to shape.
Visual features: The visuals are excellent in this book. As the narrator explains what the shape at that moment can be, you can look into the pictures to find examples, and much more.
Vocabulary Content: The vocabulary content was a little difficult for a first grader, but with the help of someone else, some of the harder words in the story could become new sight words for the student. All the mathematical terms were very appropriate for the age though.
Storyline: Be thankful for what you have, because the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Writing style: The writing style had a very nice flow to it. There was some repetition , but it wasn't to the point where every page ended in the same words. After the shape became bored with each shape, it used similar words, but that's very appropriate for this age group.
Authentic or fictionalized: The book was fictionalized. All the pictures were drawn and there aren't actual shapes that walk around and have friends. However, it did have an authentic theme running through it. It's message was to teach children to be thankful for who they are and what they have instead of always wishing you were or had something else.
Accuracy: This book's information was accurate in it. It provided examples of where you could find each of the shapes in real life. It gets children thinking about shapes in their own lives, and they begin to recognize it all around them.
Burns, Marilyn. (1995). The Greedy Triangle. n:p: Scholastic Press.
Theme: Making the most out of what you have in life.
Front and Back Matter: The front and back matter of this book are very helpful to parents and teachers using the book with their children or students. There are various ideas to springboard from this book and come up with activities to build your child's knowledge even farther than just reading the book. The pages following the story are very helpful, and you can tell the author planned very extensively to help make it a learning tool for all.
Illustrations: All the illustrations in the book are content appropriate. They are bright and colorful and capture the attention of the reader. The illustrator did an excellent job of capturing the emotion of the Greedy Triangle and the shape was moving from shape to shape.
Visual features: The visuals are excellent in this book. As the narrator explains what the shape at that moment can be, you can look into the pictures to find examples, and much more.
Vocabulary Content: The vocabulary content was a little difficult for a first grader, but with the help of someone else, some of the harder words in the story could become new sight words for the student. All the mathematical terms were very appropriate for the age though.
Storyline: Be thankful for what you have, because the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Writing style: The writing style had a very nice flow to it. There was some repetition , but it wasn't to the point where every page ended in the same words. After the shape became bored with each shape, it used similar words, but that's very appropriate for this age group.
Authentic or fictionalized: The book was fictionalized. All the pictures were drawn and there aren't actual shapes that walk around and have friends. However, it did have an authentic theme running through it. It's message was to teach children to be thankful for who they are and what they have instead of always wishing you were or had something else.
Accuracy: This book's information was accurate in it. It provided examples of where you could find each of the shapes in real life. It gets children thinking about shapes in their own lives, and they begin to recognize it all around them.
Burns, Marilyn. (1995). The Greedy Triangle. n:p: Scholastic Press.