This book is a primary picture book that introduces the concepts of negative numbers and line graphing with Perry the Penguin, who has the task of earning enough clams to purchase his own ice scooter. I read this book to my class of fourth graders prior to working with negative numbers and found it to be a great introduction. My students were entertained by the silly nature of the story, and they even did the mental math involving negative numbers along with Perry. The context of the story gave my students a way to understand how we could work with numbers less than zero before confronting these ideas on paper. The story does not include any instances in which Perry needs to subtract negative integers, however. It does discuss how to save money in addition to the mathematics concepts. This book could serve as a great introduction to negative numbers or line graphing with primary students. The back of the book also includes several of the author's additional extension ideas.

—- Robert Buyea, Bethany Community School, Bethany, CT

When I was a child, learning math was very difficult for me. The teacher would have us talk about a concept and then have us do exercises in our workbooks. It wasn't until I was an adult and had to use math in my job that the concepts finally clicked for me. Stuart J.Murphy , in his book Less Than Zero, part of the MathStart series, has found a wonderful way to teach math concepts: by telling a story. In this volume, the concept is negative numbers, and the story is about Perry the Penguin. Perry needs nine clams in order to buy an ice scooter. All his friends have one, and so he wants one, too. His parents tell him that if he wants a scooter, he will have to find a way to earn the clams. The story then follows Perry as he earns money, spends money, loses money, and borrows money. He uses a simple line graph to demonstrate the concept of negative numbers. This book goes beyond explanation of negative numbers to teach children the beginning concepts of saving, spending, and budgeting for the things that you want. It also illustrates the consequences of what happens when you are tempted to use the money that you were saving for one thing to buy something else that is ultimately not as important. It is an invaluable lesson that should be taught when children are young. The color illustrations by Frank Remkiewicz are delightful and will definitely hold children's interest. The graphs help illustrate how Perry's money fluctuates as he earns, saves, borrows, and spends. The last two pages of the book have a section called, "Adults and Kids." This section provides suggestions for activities that will reinforce the concept of negative numbers, both with respect to the story presented and in the child's everyday life. This book is a Level 3 book in the MathStart series and is geared to readers ages 7 and up. It is a great teaching tool to be used by parents with their children and would be an excellent asset to a school library. (from the MathStart Series) C.I.P. Highly Recommended, Grades 1-2.

—Carol April
Used with permission from SB&F, a publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.