Whole-y Cow!: Fractions Are Fun

by Taryn Souders, Tatjiana Mai-Wyss (Illustrator)

Learning about fractions isn't always easy, but who says it can't be fun? Using one very entertaining cow, math teacher Taryn Souders has devised a very clever (and fun) way of explaining fractions to beginning learners. One whole cow, calmly eating hay, decided to act differently on this particular day. One whole cow - what should we do? I know! Let's paint one half blue! Prompted by a poem and a visual clue, students are asked to answer what fraction is illustrated in the cow's antics, starting with halves and progressing into thirds, fourths, eighths, and tenths. What fraction of the cow is blue? ½ What fraction of the cow is white? ½ With the math problem featured as part of the artwork, students get an immediate sense of how to apply and understand the concept of fractions. How moo-velous! Taryn J. Souders lives in Winter Park, Florida. With a background in math education, she is passionate about keeping math fun for young students. This is her first children's book. Tatjana Mai-Wyss was born in Switzerland. She remembers learning about fractions with the help of a typical Swiss cake. Tatjana has illustrated several children's books and her work has been published in books and magazines in the United States and abroad. She lives in South Carolina.

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Animals, Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 24, 2010

Reviews

[Julie Graham 47150]

I love this book! I read it during math today. First, I read each page without showing the illustration. Next, I had my students draw out what the text said about the cow on their white boards and answer the fraction question(s). Then, I had a student come to the Smartboard to show his/her picture, the answer to the question(s), and explain how he/she got the answer(s). Finally, I showed the illustration in the book. We had so much fun!

[Suzie]

Cute story and illustrations that introduce fractions to kids. The boys loved it!

[Tiffany Beedle]

The story is about a cow who wants to have fun during her day, so it participates in many different activities that show fractions as well. The book is interactive.

The audience for this book would be a 3rd or 4th grade classroom. The students would be math students.

I would use this book for a fraction lesson. The book is not only a story but also an interactive story which asks the kids questions. This would be a great group activity to do while learning fractions.

The appeal is the interactive parts of the book as well as the comedy in it. There are many things that the cow participates in that tend to be funny, or fun to listen to. The kids like to hear funny things.

Souders, Taryn, and Tatjana Wyss. Whole-y cow!: fractions are fun. Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear Press, 2010. Print.

[Boni]

My fourth-grade twins, who are working with fractions right now, really loved this. The math was a bit obvious for them, so it would probably be perfect for third-graders as far as teaching the concept. As it was, my twins felt very smart knowing all the answers, which is just fine too :)

[Maya Bodart]

The book I chose is Whole-y Cow! Fractions are Fun, written by Taryn Souders and illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss. This book promotes the idea that fractions can be easy to understand and still be fun too! The book prompts students with a little poem and visual clue, following up with a question typically asking what fraction is represented in the cow’s antics, starting simple with halves and then progressing into thirds, fourths, eighths, and tenths. At the very end of the book, there is an answer key for each question asked throughout. This book is great for younger grades who have recently learned about fractions. An activity to follow up with the book could be encouraging them to make their own version of the fraction cow, encouraging them to be creative, and guiding their thinking with questions such as “What’s your favorite animal?”. This activity allows students to visualize and physically discover fractions in a fun and creative way. This activity covers several learning styles and needs and still allows kids to use their imagination while learning.

[Emily Carson]

This book teaches about basic fractions using the text ad the illustrations in the book. The book will ask questions about what fractions of things on the page there are, and the answers are in the back of the book so if kids read it on their own they can go and check their answers at the end to see if they were correct.

[Elizabeth Edwards]

i often wonder why certain books in KU the illustrations and words are so tiny?? does making them into that kindle form, does it distort the images and what not?? ... i wish that the illustrations could be bigger (& the text as well) i love the coloring ...but that is a huge wish if you please.

[Chelsey]

Such a cute book to use while teaching fractions! There were a few times where I felt like the rhythm was off, but I still enjoyed it. I also liked how in the end, it gave the answers so the kiddos can check to see if they get the riddles correct.

[Smurf]

This was a great book. I loved the pictures, and it explained fractions fairly well. It used images and tangible objects (cows) to explain it instead of just showing fractions on a page. It got a little complicated near the end, but it was still a worthwhile book.

[Debby]

This was a great book to read to my third graders at the beginning of our fractions unit.

[Kristen-Marie Freeman]

A really cute book for introducing fractions to elementary school students.

[Ms. Arca]

Cool concept ! Seems like a fun way to have math talks and use literacy... would have to try it with kiddos to see how well this worked. They’d need a foundation of fraction knowledge before this book, I think I was expecting this could be an introduction.

[Jasmine]

This is a great book to introduce fractions to third and fourth graders. The illustrations are great, the story is fun, and it does a great job at explaining the basics on fractions.

[Bern]

Bedtime math review, low-demand, no worksheets, just fun with fractions.

[Sydney Kalacinski]

This book is fun and silly and a great way to introduce fractions to young students.

[Emily]

Trust me fractions are definitely not fun, but this book can make it just a little better. A greta book when teaching fractions.

[Rendy Laflesh]

I loved how this talks about fractions and asks questions about fractions.

[shawn sheppard]

A sweet book

Sweet book , I enjoyed reading it. I think that it would be helpful when talking about fractions, good job.

[Rachel]

Great way to help children understand basic fractions if they're a struggle.

[Sarah Rourke]

I enjoyed reading this fun book about fractions! I think this is a great book for younger children. It's interactive as well as informational. I liked all the illustrations as well as how the book showed different scenarios of a cow and then asked related fraction questions.

This book could be read aloud for a math unit on fractions. This book would be for kids grades K-2. The teacher would read the book aloud and then stop when the book asks questions about fractions such as "Which fraction of the cow is black?" The teacher would point out how many black spots are on the cow compared to how many white spots there are. This would introduce the students to fractions in a fun and engaging way.

This book could also be read for independent reading if the student was a little older. For grades 2nd and 3rd, the student could understand some of the words and look at the engaging illustrations to help them through the book. Boys and girls alike will enjoy this book and will be introduced to fractions as well.

[Kelsi Watts]

What a great book to teach children fractions! I have always struggled with fractions and so I think this would have been a great book for me to have read when I was a child and I may have understood fractions better or related to them better through the pictures. I think that this is a kid friendly book so children can be comfortable with fractions and not be afraid of them as I was growing up. I thought that this book was good because it gives the opportunity to practice with fractions and count the fractions on the pictures. I loved the illustrations and the painted pages splashed with colors. I think that this helps fractions to seem more appealing and less scary for kids. It really is a happy and colorful book overall and really overall just inviting. I would highly suggest this book for teachers to read with their students in teaching fractions in the classroom to help children get more comfortable with teaching.

[Jamie Bye]

Whole-y Cow! is a book about a cow who decides to act differently one day. The cow gets painted blue, wears a patriotic swimsuit, eats ice cream, balances on a peg, takes a bath, plays the cello, gets a fish, dances, and catches butterflies. Throughout all of these activities, there are questions about fractions asked about the activities that the cow does. I personally really enjoyed this book. The mathematical questions on every other page about fractions are perfect for students. Although the book is not realistic, it is a fun and enjoyable way to examine fractions with children. For instance, a cow could not and would not be walking on a tightrope or taking a bath while laying down in a bathtub, but these are silly representations that are bound to grasp the readers attention. I would suggest that the author make the cow’s activities more fraction related.

[Kathleen]

This book is about a cow who decides to act differently one day. She does different activities and in every activity she ends up with a fraction some way or another. This is a math book so it would be great to introduce fractions, but I would also use it in a literacy lesson. This book includes several of rhyming words in it. I would use this book to introduce rhyming words. I would ask students to identify the rhyming words and to think of another word that rhymes. I believe this book will keep students interested and allow them a fun way to learn new math/literacy skills! It is the kind of book that will make students think about the situation to try to solve the math problem or in my literacy lesson, identify the rhyming word.

[Rebecca Ashley Teague]

This book introduces fractions using a cow in different scenarios. The book introduces different scenarios with rhyming verses and represents different fractions throughout the story. Using the words and the visual clues or pictures, students are asked to answer what fractions are being represented in each scenario the cow is in. For example, a cow is painted half blue and the text asks how much of the cow is painted blue. The story uses halves, thirds, fourths, eighths, and tenths throughout. I would use this book to introduce fractions to my students. I think it is a great way for students to learn how to apply and understand the concept of fractions. This book could also be used to reinforce rhyming.

[Paiton Larson]

Whole-y Cow! Is a book about a cow who decides to act differently one day. The cow gets painted blue, wears a patriotic swimsuit, eats ice cream, balances on a peg, takes a bath, plays the cello, gets a fish, dances, and catches butterflies. Throughout all of these activities, there are questions about fractions asked about the activities that the cow does.

I personally really enjoyed this book. The mathematical questions on every other page about fractions are perfect for students. I would definitely use this book in my classroom while teaching fractions. I love the visual representations and questions that go along with them.

[Shana Berschler]

This book is fabulous when introducing fractions to a classroom. This book makes fractions fun, and the illustrations are bright and entertaining! Students will be interested because the character, which is a silly cow, divides his body throughout the story to teach fractions. This will keep the young students interested and allow them a fun way to learn new math skills!

[Dorothy Carder]

This book was about learning fractions. If this book were being read to a child, it would need to be explained how fractions are found which the book does not go into detail about. It does however progress in difficulty of fractions and give the answers at the end to each question that is asked throughout the book.

[Melissa]

This book was great. It covered defining what a whole is, and what fractions are and how they work, all in a nice little story about a cow. Definitely would be a great one for young children learning about their numbers and parts of a whole, and would give them plenty of opportunities to count and understand fractions.

[Nance]

A great picture book for reinforcing/introducing fractions. The pictures support the text and the idea of parts and whole. I love how the hens and other farm animals play a role in making the day an exciting day full of fractions.

[Kyla]

This book would be good for 4-5th grade levels because it is all about learning fractions in a fun way. The illustrations are very fun as well and it is a good interactive book with problems for students.