How Many Blue Birds Flew Away?: A Counting Book with a Difference

by Paul Giganti Jr., Donald Crews (Illustrator)

This is not just another counting book.
In this book you must look carefully at the pictures. You must count. And count again.

This is a counting book with a difference.
What is the difference? The difference is what is left over when you subtract one group from another group.

Why else is this a counting book with a difference?
Because besides counting, you must read and look and think, too. Because there are many things to discover and puzzle out. Because this book is fun

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Counting

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 23, 2005

About the author

Paul Giganti, Jr., teaches mathematics to teachers at the University of California at Berkeley. He is himself a graduate of UC Berkeley, with a degree in mathematics, and he taught in the public schools for fifteen years. He lives with his family in Albany, California.

Reviews

[Jo Oehrlein]

On each page, there are multiple items (apples & oranges, pictures & doors, buttons & pockets, blue birds & black birds).

There are "wonder" questions on each page in the pattern
* How many _(a)__ were there?
* How many _(b)__ were there?
* How many more __(a)__ then ___(b)___ were there?

I think the girls/boys page is a bad idea. You have to try to decide by clothing and hair length and it's really unclear.

All numbers are less than 20. There is 1 page (maybe 2) where you're subtracting a 2 digit # from a 2 digit #. Usually it's a 1 digit # from a 2 digit #. Occasionally it's a 1 digit # from a 1 digit #.

Not a bad idea, but not wonderful, either.

[Diana]

Clever idea, yes, but not really a very effective book. Not at all useful for my unit on birds, for which I had pulled it, but also not as useful as it probably should have been for subtraction. It might work as a supplement if discussed with an adult, but I don't think it did a good enough job of teaching the subject. Guess that's why it's in with the picture books and not with the math 510s (nonfiction math).

[Brandielle]

Not my favorite in the series. Gender norms were unnecessary. No switching things up, just all simple subtraction.

[Rachel]

This book may be good to help children learn subtraction. Some of the pictures are hard to count because there is a lot going on and the different things to count may be hard to distinguish. Also, the book is a little too repetitive for my taste...it has the same question throughout the book, and it gets old after a bit.

[Sarah]

I really like how this turns from a basic counting book to a math book for young children working with simple subtraction skills. The problems get harder into one number with double digits as the book goes on. I like it because it provides a visual for children who prefer that in math and it enables them to work their way up towards harder math problems.

[Kelli]

The book to me was a little confusing seeing that the title was called How many blue birds flew away. Below the caption said a counting book with a difference. Once upon reading it was pretty good and when I read to my students they had fun reading it because they had questions within the book and the kids had fun answering the questions within.

The book was rented from Youngstown Main Library.

[Kelly]

I can see this being used for partner work in an elementary classroom working on subtraction. (There would be one demo page, 10 pages for pairs/trios to work out, the groups could present their work and the equations they create, and the lesson could be wrapped up with the final page. Easy 45 minute lesson.)

[Audrey]

Counting - This books is a great book for having children learn about subtracting and finding differences. Children can look at each page and do three different problems. The illustrations are great too!

[Tricia]

More a teaching book than a readaloud, this title shows a scene and then presents questions related to the ilustrations. Didn't really do much for me as far as always being on the look out for a good storytime title.

[Naomi]

A colorful, fun alternative to flashcards, this book focuses on subtraction. Unlike its counterpart, this book doesn't give readers the numbers to subtract. My first impression is that it could lead to a lot of confusion in miscounting the items to be subtracted.

[Monica]

It has the same concept as the book Each Orange Had Eight Slices, but itvjust was not as fun or engaging. The book can definitely be used to teach some important math concepts, but it just was not as fun as it could have been.

[Brooklyn Sinclair]

Genre- Realistic fiction and a picture book and 2nd Grade. I did not love this book. It was a lot of repetition. Every page was the same but different objects. If I was reading this to a class of students, the students and I would both be over the story very quickly.

[Lauren]

This book is very good for children learning how to count. In addition, the illustrations were very colorful and neat.

[Danielle Miskin]

A boy counts everything. Shows that anything can be counted. Interactive book that can be read for math and the students can count. Also shows infinity with the stars.

[Jessica]

This was an unusual counting book because it didn't go from 1-10. It asked questions such as how many more apples are there than oranges in the picture? It relates more to life.

[Becca Dunlap]

This is no ordinary counting book... It has the readers and listeners actively interacting with the illustrations to add and subtract.

[Elizabeth Boardman]

wrote a lesson plan on this book... great book to teach sbtraction word problems with..

[Gianna Romo]

This book does a great job at visually representing the concept of subraction. Children learn key vocabulary such as "difference" when they are asked to find how many flew away.

[Erin Chambers]

This book has adding and comparing. It has a different scene for each page while keeping the same concept throughout. Has variety and love the illustrations.

[Maria]

An updated version of the "How Many Snails?" book. The illustrations are more vivid and the content is more relatable to children who have never seen snails or star fish.

[Megan Sutherland]

This is not your average counting book. Has students subtract and add with the pictures. Very descriptive pictures and very interactive for the students.