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Math Fun
If You Were a Minus Sign
If you were a minus sign, you would subtract one number from another. You could subtract food and balloons. In every problem, you would find the difference. What else could you do if you were a minus sign?
24 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2008
About the author
Trisha Speed Shaskan
69 books91 followersAs an author of 50 books for children, Trisha Speed Shaskan carries her childhood dreams into her adult life. With the upcoming picture book Trisha wrote THE ITTY-BITTY WITCH illustrated by Xindi Yan, Trisha celebrates Halloween, magic, brooms, witches, and self-empowerment. Trisha is also the author of the picture book PUNK SKUNKS and graphic novel series Q & RAY, which are illustrated by her husband Stephen Shaskan. When Trisha isn't writing stories, she loves to laugh, travel, and spend time with her dog Beatrix and husband Stephen.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 9, 2014
We like that the book really teaches about subtraction.
May 7, 2021
Title (italicize): If You Were a Minus Sign
Author: Trisha Speed Shaskan
Illustrator (if separate from author):Francesca Carabelli
Genre: Children book, Nonfiction
Theme(s): Subtraction, Math, Problem-solving, Numbers , teaching
Opening line/sentence (type directly from text): “If you were a minus sign”
Brief Book Summary (2-3 sentences in your own words): This picture book is educational as it introduces and teaches subtraction by providing examples and uses easy text for young children to understand. Young children who are learning math can read along as it helps them to understand how to solve math problems.
Response to Two Professional Reviews (3-4 sentences in your own words): Both Jesse James and Wendee agree that this book teaches subtraction. Wendee also points out that the illustrations is for children aged 4-10ish which I can agree that I really love that this book is creative and teaches young children subtraction by bringing in examples by using numbers and illustrations. I do agree that the illustrations can help children 4-10 years old as a reminder on how to set up subtraction word problems. This book is a preschoolers children book, but children who are a bit older and may need examples or a reference to look back to when trying to subtract two numbers, this book can be helpful.
Tell Me Framework (4 sentences in your own words):
Like(s): terminology such as “difference”, “subtract”, “take away” is age appropriate for preschoolers. I also like how descriptive the book is as they use numbers and pictures to show subtraction problems. This book was creative and engaging especially for the preschoolers.
Puzzle(s): Why the author decided to use an additional problem towards the end of the book to check your work for a subtraction problem when this book is about minus signs and subtracting two numbers from each other.
Dislike(s): The books are lengthy, in the book the author used an additional example to show that you can also add two numbers together to get the same answer to a subtraction problem. This can be confusing to preschooler students when this book is mainly about subtraction.
Patterns(s): Repetition “If you were a minus sign” is the opening line on each page.
Consideration of Instructional Application (3-4 sentences in your own words): I would use this book in a preschool setting by making a poster with the math terminology that was provided in the book such as “difference”, “take away”, “subtract” etc. and write the definition for each one and post it somewhere in the classroom where the students can reference back to when they are stuck on a math problem. Also, after reading the book I will have the students do an activity where I give them a few math problems to do and they will complete it at the table and when they are done, they should raise their hands and I will come over and look over their work. This will help me to have an understanding if the students grasp how to subtract two numbers correctly.
Author: Trisha Speed Shaskan
Illustrator (if separate from author):Francesca Carabelli
Genre: Children book, Nonfiction
Theme(s): Subtraction, Math, Problem-solving, Numbers , teaching
Opening line/sentence (type directly from text): “If you were a minus sign”
Brief Book Summary (2-3 sentences in your own words): This picture book is educational as it introduces and teaches subtraction by providing examples and uses easy text for young children to understand. Young children who are learning math can read along as it helps them to understand how to solve math problems.
Response to Two Professional Reviews (3-4 sentences in your own words): Both Jesse James and Wendee agree that this book teaches subtraction. Wendee also points out that the illustrations is for children aged 4-10ish which I can agree that I really love that this book is creative and teaches young children subtraction by bringing in examples by using numbers and illustrations. I do agree that the illustrations can help children 4-10 years old as a reminder on how to set up subtraction word problems. This book is a preschoolers children book, but children who are a bit older and may need examples or a reference to look back to when trying to subtract two numbers, this book can be helpful.
Tell Me Framework (4 sentences in your own words):
Like(s): terminology such as “difference”, “subtract”, “take away” is age appropriate for preschoolers. I also like how descriptive the book is as they use numbers and pictures to show subtraction problems. This book was creative and engaging especially for the preschoolers.
Puzzle(s): Why the author decided to use an additional problem towards the end of the book to check your work for a subtraction problem when this book is about minus signs and subtracting two numbers from each other.
Dislike(s): The books are lengthy, in the book the author used an additional example to show that you can also add two numbers together to get the same answer to a subtraction problem. This can be confusing to preschooler students when this book is mainly about subtraction.
Patterns(s): Repetition “If you were a minus sign” is the opening line on each page.
Consideration of Instructional Application (3-4 sentences in your own words): I would use this book in a preschool setting by making a poster with the math terminology that was provided in the book such as “difference”, “take away”, “subtract” etc. and write the definition for each one and post it somewhere in the classroom where the students can reference back to when they are stuck on a math problem. Also, after reading the book I will have the students do an activity where I give them a few math problems to do and they will complete it at the table and when they are done, they should raise their hands and I will come over and look over their work. This will help me to have an understanding if the students grasp how to subtract two numbers correctly.
October 25, 2020
so fun, i would have never thought i would say MATH was fun??! i really loved these, i think i read 4 of them, were there more? any who ... great illustrations. well done. i am such a fan ... great for folks who need math explanations that are easily followed. i am 42 and i love a fresh bit of new view or look at it ... so fun to look back and recall your math life. i see a few more i have not read yet. will check those out as well.
May 15, 2022
Math problems that are so creative that involve minus problems that seem fun.The text is understandable to all ages. The illustrations are engaging and you want to know what the next page will look like. The examples are presented like you are the minus sign and that perspective is great for children to see the perspective of the numbers. It is easy to follow and it made math fun for the readers including me.
June 10, 2022
This series has nice illustrations and great examples of the math concept. In the back of the book, there are glossaries and an index. There are also activities for students. This would be a really nice addition to a concept introduction for elementary students.
February 14, 2013
I am interning in first grade, and I am having trouble teaching the concept of subtraction. I do not want to simply drill students into memorizing subtraction facts. This book of creative and illustrated subtraction word problems makes subtraction FUN! Always looking for fun math books! The book also has each problem written out to show how they would solve it. In the back, it has a subtraction activity with sidewalk chalk number lines. Definitely going to try that! When I used this book in my first grade class, I read the story problem out loud. I covered The number sentence with a post it and had the students work together to write the number sentence that matched the story problem.
March 21, 2013
This book is another good book from the author. It shows different scenarios to match the subtraction problems that come with the book. The colorful illustrations make it very easy and engaging for students. There is also a really great "extra" activity page at the end that would be a great way to extend learning. I would definitely use this book as a teacher in my classroom to introduce and get students interested in the concept of subtraction.
December 3, 2012
This book is good for a math lesson on subtraction. It has examples of subtraction problems, using the traditional algorithm and also the horizontal method. Mainly subtracts single digit numbers. It creates simple word problems and equations it has a glossary of terms in the back and also has helpful web sites to future explore. Can be used as a workstation or as an introduction to odd numbers.
March 1, 2009
Another great one for reading fact like a story the pictures are really cute and would be great to introduce subtraction to children. Activities at the end and further resources. Ages K+
March 24, 2009
Great introduction to subtraction. Fun illustrations. For ages 4-10ish.
June 16, 2012
491 - 2012
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews