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3rd out of 61 books
—
43 voters
Zero the Hero
by
Joan Holub (Goodreads Author),
Tom Lichtenheld (Goodreads Author)
Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. That’s what all the other numbers think of Zero. He doesn’t add anything in addition. He’s of no use in division. And don’t even ask what he does in multiplication. (Hint: Poof!) But Zero knows he’s worth a lot, and when the other numbers get into trouble, he swoops in to prove that his talents are innumerable.
Hardcover, 40 pages
Published
February 28th 2012
by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
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At the beginning of the book, Zero feels as though he does not fit in or has a special purpose amongst the other numbers. However, Zero feels as though he just needs a chance to prove that he really is a hero! This book certainly teaches students math concepts in a creative and fun way! The other numbers begin to realize that Zero is not needed because one can add and subtract a number from zero, and not get zero. He is "nothing,” but then comes multiplication, and zero suddenly finds he can tur...more
In the beginning of this math book, Zero is told over and over again by his friends that he has no purpose and is really just a placeholder for all the other numbers who have higher importance than zero. Then Zero begins to feel very sad and starts to think that he needs the right chance to show all his friends just how important he really is. The book highlights how if Zero and any other number are added together, it always equals them and not him and if you subtract Zero and any other number,...more
The story is about the number zero not being part of the normal counting numbers. This story tells of how zero is mistaken for many other round objects, which makes him very sad. After being so frustrated, he learns that he is important and proves why he is important.
The audience for this book would be a preschool classroom learning about numbers. Especially about counting forward and backwards. Also, students who need to learn that everyone is important.
I would use this book for teaching stud...more
The audience for this book would be a preschool classroom learning about numbers. Especially about counting forward and backwards. Also, students who need to learn that everyone is important.
I would use this book for teaching stud...more
Zero the Hero by Joan Holub, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld is a book about math, respect, cooperation, and the power of zero.
Lichtenheld's colorful, humorous illustrations are rendered in ink, pastel, and colored pencil. The war-like Roman Numerals in toga's are a hysterical touch. My favorite images are addition, subtraction, multiplication, story problems, round off, just count, rescue, run, and last two illustrations.
The humor in the illustrations and text keeps the story from becoming didac...more
Lichtenheld's colorful, humorous illustrations are rendered in ink, pastel, and colored pencil. The war-like Roman Numerals in toga's are a hysterical touch. My favorite images are addition, subtraction, multiplication, story problems, round off, just count, rescue, run, and last two illustrations.
The humor in the illustrations and text keeps the story from becoming didac...more
Have you read Emergency yet? It is this brilliant book about the alphabet letters and what happens when the letter “E” gets injured. Well, if you haven’t read that…consider it added to your to-read list. Seriously. It is hilarious! Anyway, this particular book is that level of comedy but with numbers. Oh yeah, numbers are just as important as letters.
So all the various numbers are gathered around and are talking about this or that. And Zero says, “From now on, call me Zero the Hero!” because he...more
So all the various numbers are gathered around and are talking about this or that. And Zero says, “From now on, call me Zero the Hero!” because he...more
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I love the subtitle of this book: A Book about Nothing. And that's exactly the focus of this book about Zero, the place holder. But wait! Zero is so much more than a place holder, and this book tells why. Although Zero considers himself important, the other numbers taunt him because he is not useful when counting, and he has a self-identity crisis, often being mistaken for other round objects and being useless when it comes to addition, subtraction, and division. After the other numbers recogniz...more
I really liked this predictable but still fun book about the number Zero. Zero, who fancies himself a hero and wears an awesome cape, ends up feeling useless after all the other numbers brag about themselves. He leaves his friends, who end up in a battle with Roman numerals. (The Roman numerals wear togas, yay!) Zero returns to help save the day and prove his worth.
Packed with math jokes, this is a book that will appeal to younger and older listeners. Recommended for grades 1 - 4. The third gra...more
Packed with math jokes, this is a book that will appeal to younger and older listeners. Recommended for grades 1 - 4. The third gra...more
This is a fun book about numbers, specifically the importance of zero in our number system. The concept of adding, subtracting, multiplying and the impossibility of dividing by zero are all discussed in a dialogue-heavy format. With many word balloons all over the page, the book is a bit distracting to read aloud, but we still enjoyed reading it together.
I like that it reinforced the properties and importance of this number, substantially making our arabic numerals different from the Roman nume...more
I like that it reinforced the properties and importance of this number, substantially making our arabic numerals different from the Roman nume...more
This children's picture book is hilarious and still has a heart of gold. This is a book that adults will love reading to their kids just as much as their kids will enjoy reading it. There is a great message about both accepting yourself and accepting others. And as a great bonus, there is a lot of MATH to learn here! It's not everyday you read a great story and you can also teach your kids a little something about basic math principles.
The illustrations are totally adorable and there are some ex...more
The illustrations are totally adorable and there are some ex...more
Humorous math book - not quite about counting. Loved the little decorations adding funny details on nearly all the pages - for example, the tiny cop explaining that 0 does not equal donuts. Each number is imbued with his or her own personality which stays consistent through the book - 1 is a pickle-green winner, 2 is a frou-frou girly-girl, 7 is a surfer, 5 is a pocket-protector, bow-tie wearing nerd. The roman numerals who attack are shown as fierce, toga-wearing barbarians, and I liked the mom...more
I really enjoyed this book! Throughout most of the book, all of the other numbers make fun of zero. They say that he is nothing and he has no purpose other than being a place holder. I loved the comments made by each of the numbers, they are very funny. Numbers one through nine tell zero that when he is added or subtracted, nothing happens! But they soon find out what happens when they are multiplied by zero. They become nothing too! As you read on you learn that zero is so much more than just a...more
This is a perfect book to read in the school library! The math connections were real and exciting for my 2nd graders because they understood the operations AND learned something new. They got so excited learning about Roman numerals: "So that's what those letters mean on the clock!" It was also a fun read aloud, with just enough puns on their level. Tom Lichtenheld (illustrator) is very popular in our library right now and I am also loving the fact that they are recognizing that his work looks s...more
This book is an adorable story about an unusual hero. Zero the hero, who can turn anything into a zero. This book focuses around concepts of math such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I would implement this picture book in a math unit which would be wonderful because it is hard to find fun math books like this to add to curriculum. Also this book makes for a great read aloud or one on one instruction. The illustrations provide characters with additional text boxes of inform...more
Who knew a book about numbers and math concepts could be so laugh out loud funny?! My second graders thoroughly enjoyed this book and loved the personalities of all the numbers 1-9. This book would work well for 3rd grade, but I think the addition of the roman numerals as villains would go over 1st graders' heads. This is fun as a read aloud, but make sure you have enough time to include all the speech bubbles. Many of the most humorous lines are included there. Students liked this more than E-m...more
The number zero just felt like he didn't count for much. All the other numbers had important values. In addition and subtraction problems the zero was virtually invisible because his presence didn't make a difference. So the character zero disappears just when the numbers need him the most. The other numbers are under attack by the Roman numerals and zero comes to the recue! Thats how he got the name, Zero the Hero. This book is great when talking about place value and the importance of the numb...more
This is a great applicable math book for grades K-1st grade! I have not found a book on the number zero, so this was a great fun way to learn about the concept zero. Also, the book was based around a superhero theme, so this would be very fun to play with. Students could design their own superhero with a word sentence that contained the number 0. This would be a great intro for counting numbers starting with 0. This has a great emotional tie that you could relate to everyone that everybody fits...more
Cute book for reading and math. This story is about Zero who wants to feel important and a part of the gang with the other numbers. Unfortunately when you add any of the other numbers with Zero, the answer is always the other number. This makes Zero feel sad and constantly left out. BUT, when Zero finds out that if you multiply any of the numbers against him he's the answer! Now Zero who because the numbers Hero finally feels like part of the gang! Great book to incorporate in a math lesson!!!
What a delightful imaginary story about the importance of the numeral, 0, to our number system! However, to really appreciate this book, one would need some understanding including the introduction of counting, odd and even numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and Roman numerals. This book is for older, at least 3rd grade and higher who have explored the number-activities mentioned. Joan Hulub has a vivid, logical sense of math and an amazing imagination to write this partic...more
This is a great book for students to understand the importance of the number zero and how it relates to math. I would use this book in my class to allow students to see the different functions of the number zero in relation to multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction.
I loved this book and the way it personalizes each number and has cute puns to go with each. It truly allows students to see numbers as something that is friendly and personable and not so foreign or abstract.
I loved this book and the way it personalizes each number and has cute puns to go with each. It truly allows students to see numbers as something that is friendly and personable and not so foreign or abstract.
This is an adorable book that teaches the importance of the number zero. At first, all the other numbers make fun of Zero and don't understand why he is a number like them. In the end they realize that they can't find the sum of equations like 7+3 without zero to help them make 10. This could easily be used in a classroom where they are learning simple addition and subtraction. It would be simple to incorporate a lesson of place value to go along with this book.
I really liked this book. It shows how we can sometimes think of zero as not important, but we need the number zero for many reasons. This book shows all four basic operations. This book can be used in the classroom for many different reasons. You might explain why the answer is zero when a number is multiplied by zero and why you can't divide numbers by zero. This book has fun illustrations as well which students will enjoy and might find funny, I did.
I thought this book was fantastic because it had a cute theme but could be used to introduce all sorts of mathematic topics, from multiplication, addition, and place values, especially tens. Given the content, it could be used for early elementary, but possibly up to about third grade as well. This could be a fun station, especially using the roman numerals as a challenge/bonus question. I would probably focus a lesson initially on place value concepts.
So clearly I like picture books for older kids that are very clever. This book is about numbers and it would be great to use as more of as a review or introduction to place holding, zero multiplication, addition,subtraction, any of those things. But, because of the figurative language in this book, I really think that it would be best for older kids. the cute little jokes will go over the younger kids heads.
I think a book detailing the importance of the number zero is imperative for young students learning numbers and operations. I liked how the author dispelled the myth that zero is not important, the scenerio concerning teasing is something that young students can relate to. This book does a great job of personifying numbers and showing how zero is important to every other number in a creative way.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and decided to give it to my daughter as a birthday present. She just turned four and liked the book, but I think it's a little too old for her. The book is fantastic. It is cleverly written and really well illustrated. It subtly teaches a variety of math concepts involving the number zero. I think that children learning multiplication would love this book.
Have some fun reading this book during story time and then reread it to your class again when introducing place value during math. So many ways to enjoy this book! I especially appreciate how Zero the Hero can stealthy sneak into math class, the one subject kids think HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH READING and therefore the one that my "at-promise" readers prefer.
What a fantastic picture book! Zero thinks he is useless, since nothing changes when he is added to or subtracted from other numbers. When multiplying, he scares the other numbers by the way he makes them disappear. But Zero is the only number who can save the day when the Roman Numerals appear! This is the perfect book for when Zero the Hero visits kindergarten.
If you're going to write a story about Zero and his relationship with the other numbers, this is the way to do it. Chock full of puns, visual gags, and actual math (!), kids who understand math concepts like multiplying by zero and Roman numberals will probably be tickled by the book. I can't imagine, though, that it would be in high demand for a repeat reading.
Okay, any kid with a sense of humor will like this book. Some of the jokes make it more accessible to middle grades, but it would be a good story even for a kid who just needs to get a good sense of numbers and the way math works. 1st through 7th graders and maybe even older would enjoy it, so long as the older kids could get over the "picture book" thing.
Charlotte's current favorite book. She cried when I told her it was time to take it back to the library - but it's been renewed the maximum amount of times and is two weeks overdue. It goes quite a bit over her head, but she likes the superhero aspect, the speech bubbles, and was very intrigued by roman numerals. Will definitely check it out again.
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Author of books for children, including the Goddess Girls series (8-12, co-author Suzanne Williams, Aladdin), Zero the Hero (Henry Holt / Macmillan); Wagons Ho! (Albert Whitman & Co); A Kiss For You! (Scholastic/Cartwheel); Vincent van Gogh Sunflowers and Swirly Stars (Grosset & Dunlap); Groundhog Weather School; Why Do Dogs Bark?; Boo Who? A Spooky Lift-the-Flap Book. http://joanholub.blo...more
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