Thank You, Stuart J. Murphy!

My girls absolutely love books. They read books all the time, they quote phrases from books, they pretend to visit the library with their baby dolls. They speak in book form saying things like: "Lets go, yelled the fairy." and "Stop, she said." while playing. We read books before bed. Lucy reads books to Julia, and books to Esther, and Julia reads books to Esther. We read books out loud together and look through library books for school. We have a million and one books and are probably going to buy another bookshelf this weekend just so we have room for them all.

I was so excited when I saw that My Father's World First Grade includes a huge list of books that reinforce math concepts. The list in the back of the teacher's manual is very extensive. For each concept (patterns, addition, etc) there is a list of books. We'll be checking these out from the library as we go through the curriculum, but I'm also going to purchase a few. (Using my Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards!) Browsing the list, I noticed that they include a large number of Stuart J Murphy's MathStart books.

MathStart books are fun fiction stories that include math concepts. Each book even has two pages of activity ideas you can do with your children to further the concepts. The stories are engaging and fun, so much more than your average counting book. With 21 books each in three different learning levels, there is something for everyone. The books have even been turned into a musical.

I contacted Stuart J Murphy about doing a review of his books and he was kind enough to send us some. Lucy, Julia, and Esther received two signed books each! They were so excited to open their packages and we read several of the books right away. You can read summaries of each book here, as well as see some of the activity ideas included in the books.

Just Enough Carrots has been read at bedtime several nights in a row now. I overheard Lucy and Julia explaining to Daddy that the bunny wanted more carrots but his mommy was buying worms and peanuts too. After reading The Greatest Gymnast of All only once, Julia was saying "zipping zooming Zoe" at the dinner table. Lucy likes Lets Fly A Kite and has read it many times over already. Henry the Fourth is adorable and clearly presents the topic of ordinal numbers. Missing Mittens has a fun twist at the end that makes the girls giggle. Same Old Horse is probably my favorite, I think it does a great job of discussing making predictions.

Each book is clearly labeled with the level and math topic. These will be great to read throughout the year to reinforce math concepts that we are learning. You can find many of these books on Amazon as a part of the 4-for-3 promotion. For more information about MathStart books, check out their website or sign up to receive email updates. Thank you Stuart J. Murphy!