Every Buddy Counts (Mathstart: Level 1

MathStart Level 1

by Stuart J. Murphy

A little girl starts with one little hamster, then two trumpet-playing sisters, and keeps counting past six slinky fish, eight playmates, and more--up to ten cuddly teddy bears. Anytime she feels lonely, this little girl counts her buddies, but can't help but feel glad instead. Full color.

Genres: Mathematics, Childrens, Number, Picture Books, Counting, Nonfiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 1997

About the author

PICTURES & WORDS, STORIES & BOOKS
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com

I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.

I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.

I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.

MATHSTART

The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.

The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.

Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )

THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL

Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”

STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN

My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.

I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.

Each book is reviewed by a tea

Reviews

[Juso · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Every Buddy Counts" is a great little book about teaching kids how to count! The book shows how to count from 1 to 10. It is about a little girl who wakes up and is feeling sad, but when she is feeling sad; she counts all her little buddies. 1 being her little hamster, 2 being her older sisters who play trumpet in a band, 3 being her cousin's kittens, and so on. This book is appropriate for the Kindergarten level. I would use this book in the classroom to teach students about how to count to 10 and how each number can be visually represented. As an extension activity, I could cover up all of the numbers in the book and let the students only see the pictures so that they can count, as opposed to just seeing the number.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A part of the MathStart Counting series, Every Buddy counts provides visual learning of basic math concepts for a beginning reader. It tells a story of a young girl wakes up feeling crummy. In order for her to rid her blues, she counts from 1 to 10 people and things that mean a lot to her. In the end, the young girl realizes that she is a very lucky person.
In the last few pages of the book, the author provides suggestions to adults and kids on how to have more fun and extend learning with math concepts.

[Jennifer Berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent introduction into counting, for students pre-k through kindergarten. The text explores many different environments and situations where a child could practice counting. Each page includes both the numeric symbol and number word, for that counted number, which is excellent exposure for students who are beginning to explore the world of numbers. The pictures, characters, and plot of this story are engaging and will help to interest students in counting.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! It's narrated by a little girl who counts the friends and family she loves whenever she feel sad. My favorite was when she counts the 9 special friends in her stories. The illustrator has drawn 9 books on the little girl's shelf, including Harry the Dirty Dog, one of my favorite books when I was little. It's a cute book that could be used for counting, and once the story is over the kids can write their own story telling of the people that make them happy!

[Jayetta Carter-mcfarlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

For grades Pre-K through 1. Concepts addressed imclude large and small, the spelling out of the numbers counted and the number symbols up to ten. Several activities to engage children in their counting adventure are included on the last pages of the book. These activities connect their real-world experiences to mathematics concepts.

[Jazmyne Henry]

This book, "Every Buddy Counts" is a wonderful way of teaching students how to count. The book is about a young girl who feels down one day and counts and realizes just how fortunate she is to have so many buddies. This book can also be used to teach students about self-esteem In counting and building relationships.

[Seth Lebaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anohter rote counting book. THis book could be used in k and 1st grade, even 2nd for low level students. The cook coul be used to help student count forward and even backwards (if they start at the back on the book. The student could right their own buddy book and see if they can count up to 10.

[Kelsey Vayens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is another one within the math start series. For this book, it can serve as a tool to teach about the concept of counting from 1 to 10 to younger aged students. It teaches the concept in a narrative entertaining way.

[Ashlin]

Is this a great counting book for students learning their numbers. Students could work on number recognition and counting by counting along with story. Students could also complete activities by drawing a certain amount of pictures to match the number provided on a worksheet.

[Savannah Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every buddy counts is a great book because it helps teach children to count. It also shows that we use counting everyday and just how important it is. They also make it fun by counting with their friends.

[Jazelle Washington · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has lots of colorful pictures on every page. They count toys and pets, and neighbors and pennies, and aunts, uncles, cars, friends, and stories they have read.

[Nicole Holden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be great for a beginning counter. This book is fun for students who are just learning to count up to 10. This book is an easy read and the pictures are fun too.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read at Preschool Story Time on 9/7/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Esther]

First Grade: Counting

Rhyming

[Douglas Adams]

The lessons that could be taught are counting and how to handle emotions.

[Molli Hobgood]

Every Buddy Counts is a precious counting book that proves every'buddy' DOES indeed count! It is perfect for teaching counting.

[Eric Shea]

This book helps teach the reader how to count. It consist of a girl counting all of her friends

[Anna]

This story counts animal buddies. It can be used in the classroom to teach counting 1 - 10, and maybe even about friends and pets.

[Jesse Albers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Counting

[Little Champs]

Number 22

[Skylar Burris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute counting book (to 10).

[Kathleen Ruff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to read to young children learning to count from 1 to 10.

[Elanor]

All by herself!