Nonfiction Monday: Zero is the Leaves on the Tree, by Betsy Franco, reviewed by Fegan

I'll admit, math books often make me yawn before I even open the front cover. It's not that I don't like math, I kind of do, but do I really want to read about it? This book, however:



definitely did not put me to sleep. Rather, it made me want to get up and take a walk outside, to see how many places I could find "zero" (except that I would not get very far without being stepped on or run over. Plus it's cold.)

The book is built around the premise that it's easy to show "three" by counting three things, but how do you show "zero"? Franco with her simple text, and Shino Arihara with his soft illustrations that make me think of Martha Alexander, show "zero" in some very creative ways that any child can identify with. "Zero is... the sound of snowflakes landing on your mitten." A must-have for any preschool or kinder classroom, and the natural follow-up activity would be to go for a "zero walk" around your school or neighborhood, then create your own book illustrating zero.

Review copy supplied by Tricycle Press. We are Amazon Associates, and if you purchase a copy by clicking on the book cover link, we rceeive a small portion for our library. Click here to see some other great nonfiction choices blogged about this week.