Math Fables: Lessons That Count

by Greg Tang, Heather Cahoon (Illustrator)

From 1 to 10, these "lessons that count" are math magic for learning addition and subtraction.


Greg Tang has built his career as an author and math missionary on the power of creative problem solving. Now, through winsome "fables" about concepts that are relevant to the very youngest math learners -- sharing, teamwork, etc. -- Greg encourages kids to see the basics of addition and subtraction in entirely new ways. Fresh, fun, and most of all, inspiring, MATH FABLES is perfect for launching young readers on the road to math success!

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Teaching, Animals, Fables

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1949

Reviews

[Stephanie Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book to help teach number families with addition. Nice concept in theory but I found the text to be a bit boring, and kids were "told" rather than allowed to discover the relationships between the numbers.

[Ella Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did not do much for me. I like the concept behind the book and if you were really trying to incorporate more math into a child's reading this would be good but in every other instance, I don't think it is excellent. The illustrations are not very great and look a little too "clip art" for me. I do appreciate that there is extra work to do in the back of the book for children who want to practice.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about making numbers that are at most 10 as sums of two numbers. Unlike Math-terpieces, where the readers make the sums, here the narration makes all the sums.

Some of the rhythm in the poetry was off. The meter didn't always seem natural, and that made it a difficult to read smoothly.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book is cute, it was not quite the "fables" I was envisioning (its hard to judge books online)! Best suited for children being introduced to math, from pre-k through grade 1... not for my 8yr old.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did this with the 4 year old I work with. She's not the biggest fan of practicing math facts, but she loves reading, so this was a great way to get her to practice them and enjoy herself at the same time.

[Raynell McClellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice book for practicing simple addition in a fun and different way

[Jc · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that really assists young readers in reading about numbers.

[Esmeralda Vara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great to practice and learn about numbers and our son was even adding numbers in each little paragraph. He really enjoyed it!

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute way to learn!

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun to read rhymes. Lessons about life and number combinations are presented using anthropomorphized animals.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the illustrations, and the concept that we should play with numbers. Feels a little long--maybe read in smaller sections, depending on audience?

[Ally Copper · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Math Fables: Lessons That Count" by Greg Tang is not just another counting picture book though it does have the familiar tropes of a traditional counting book: one spider, two birds, three turtles, etc. However, along with counting these animals, this story also groups the animals so that simple addition is presented in a fun way. For example, five raccoons become a group of two and a group of three raccoons so readers see what numbers combine to make up the number five. Though the computer generated illustrations by Heather Cahoon are not especially captivating, they do accurately represent the animals and number groups mentioned in the text. What is especially impressive with this particular math picture book is that in addition to presenting math facts in a clear way, the text also presents fables that actually are meaningful! The book presents lessons on cooperation, friendship, planning ahead, and thankfulness, among other important topics. The text would work best with younger school age readers, perhaps up to third grade, but I also could see it being a helpful tool for slightly older students who struggle with math concepts. With solid math lessons and clever fable poems, this book adds up to an extremely effective and entertaining educational tool.

[Chanelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Math fables is a book with poems that talk about numbers in sequence. It also shows counting strategies. The poem, "Dinner Guest", talks about how one spider created a web and needed someone to join. "Trying Times" talks about two birds trying to leave the nest. This poem shows one to one correspondence when talking about the birds separately. "Family Affair" talks about three turtles going to the pond. This particular poem separates the turtles saying one did this and the other two did that. This would be great to use to help children learn the different number facts of addition associated with the numbers in this book.

[Hannah Schweiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Math Fables is a great transitioning tool to move from counting to adding. Readers are learning about place value by grouping. The “two parts to make a whole” addition concept is indirectly describing the pieces I need to get my whole. This book helps readers practice and build computation skills by breaking numbers into small, manageable pieces. This book requires that the reader think about the sum in several different ways. The way in which this is done is very clever because the reader might not know that they are dealing with addition, or they might not have learned it yet, but they can gather from both the illustrations and the text what is happening computationally.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

To say that this is a counting picture book oversimplifies it. It does count up to 10, but it does more than that. For on each page the critters involved are grouped in multiple ways to help kids make connections with how smaller numbers add up to the larger number the page emphasizes. So it is also an addition/subtraction/grouping book on top of a counting book. It's also attractively illustrated and the pages are written in well-done rhymes. A great resource for helping kids grow their math skills without them really realizing they're doing so. The back of the book also has further math activity suggestions.

[Rebecca Ashley Teague · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is composed of many fables or short stories. Each of the stories in the book explores numbers 1 to 10. The stories are short, but are very descriptive. I would use this book in my classroom to help young students understand that a number is not only an amount, but it is made up of other numbers. For example, the number four is composed of 3 and 1 or 2 and 2. I can use this text to introduce composing and decomposing numbers. This book would also reinforce literacy skills such as comprehension.

[Cassie Houck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is all about counting and different numbers that add up to getting a certain number (1-10). It was in a sing song rhyme with stories that have great morals and wonderful animal characters!

I loved this book because it really was super cute and the lessons were important. I also liked how in the back it gave you ways to practice!

I would definitely read this book aloud and then do a lesson on ways we can add numbers to get other numbers. I could even have the pictures of the animals on a smart board and we could add them as a class!

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greg Tang's Lessons That Count Math Fables is a wonderfully illustrated book by Heather Cahoon. Math Fables teaches character building by sharing colorful stories that teach appreciation, cooperation, and friendship, along with teaching our children how to count.

Why not check out some of his other titles? Math for All Seasons, The Grapes of Math, The Best of Times, Math Appeal and Math-terpieces. Have fun!

[Zach Naegele · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is filled with poems about animals. As the book progresses the number increases. The poems are creative and comical, with many different animals in situations that could occur for an animal. Each poem also has a creative title that refers to the content of the poem. All of the poems also end with a little moral to the story. One of the poems is about two birds learning to fly. They fall over and over but they keep trying, until the finally learn to fly.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've read many of the books about math by Greg Tang and we've enjoyed them all. This one is designed for younger children, as more of a counting book, although addition and grouping are used to help depict the sums. The illustrations are great and the narrative is simple enough for younger children, but still engaging enough for our oldest too.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought it was just another counting book, but then I noticed it was dividing numbers up so you can add them back together. For example, on the 7 page, it would have the animals in groups of 2 and 5 or 3 and 4 or 6 and 1. This is a good intro to the concept of addition and also that a number of objects can be split in different ways and still add up to the same number. Cute poems, too.

[Stephanie Field · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells a different story for each number. For example, 5 is about a family of 5 raccoons and their activities and the number 10 is about 10 beavers. This is a great book to use in a classroom setting because for every different number that is presented, a new problem arises that the reader must solve. This book is designed for very basic math which is a perfect way to introduce math to new learners.

[Maddie Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a cute little book as well as a great resource to introduce math facts of ten to students. I love the way in which this book shows the numbers represented in different ways. This is a GREAT way to help with math in the classroom and allow students see how to use math facts in a real world setting. I would love to have this book in my future classroom! I think it would be very useful and beneficial to all students!

[Khadija Bensaadoun · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book includes math fables of different animals. It involves using addition and subtraction to solve the outcome of each fable. This book is appropriate for prek-1st grade. For a lesson, I would group students into 4 groups and assign each of them a well known Disney Tale. The students’ task is to write out a summary of their story and include numbers.

[Amber Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this math fables book! It is a great book to use with younger students to introduce counting and number sequence. It also throws in a small bit of addition. The vivid illustrations capture your attention immediately and accurately represent what is written in the text. I also enjoyed this book because there are great messages for students to learn at the end of each story.

[Jaymie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's note says he wrote this for kids 3-6. I could easily see using this up through 2nd grade to practice/reinforce number sense and part-part-whole with addition. Great bonus activities on the last page. Must buy for school. Great gift for kids or read aloud with a parent where you can explore the pictures and the number combos together.

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for kids learning to count or add. This counting book is a collection of stories, each one being a 2-page spread consisting of a poem about a group of animals that gets broken into 2 smaller groups and combines together again. The title sounds like a classroom book but it is actually just a great read-aloud.

[Kati · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very cute book with 10 different rhymes for the numbers 1-10. For each number all related addition problems are included in the poem. A great way to show children how all numbers are made up of other smaller numbers.

[Isabel Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great resource to introduce math facts of ten to our students. I love the way in which they decompose the numbers and show them represented in different ways. A great way to increase math fluency, and help students see how to use math facts in a real world setting.

[Garnet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these math books by Greg Tang. The kids enjoy reading them and don't even realize they are practicing math! Great for my 6-year-old and easily adaptable for my 3-year-old, he just needs a little more mom guidance.