School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-The advantages of multiplication are introduced in a simple story about an African-American girl who loves to count things, both in and out of school, but is unsure how multiplication will speed up the process. After counting the tiles on the kitchen counter and the books on the library shelves, she falls asleep and begins to dream of a calm bike ride in the country. Then, eight sheep on bicycles come zooming by and stop at a barn to get five yarn balls apiece to give to seven grandmothers knitting sweaters. Amanda is overwhelmed by trying to tot up bicycle wheels, sheep legs, knitting needles, and sweater arms-until the sheep and the grandmothers begin shouting, "Multiply!" She awakes, convinced that she wants to learn how. Large, lively, ink-and-watercolor cartoons in cheerful colors are filled with objects to count, from lollipops to windowpanes. A comprehenive guide for adults on the usage of the principles and pictures in the book is included.-Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
The Horn Book Guide policy is to offer descriptive, unrated reviews of books by contributing reviewers. Amanda Bean loves to count anything and everything. But when, in a dream counting sheep, there is suddenly too much for her to count at once, she realizes she must learn to multiply. The pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations allow clear teaching opportunities, and math activities are appended. From HORN BOOK Spring 1999, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The protagonist in this story has a sort of low-grade obsessive/compulsive disorder: ``I count anything and everything,'' chirps Amanda. The problem is that Amanda's class is moving on to multiplication and she just doesn't get it. So she keeps counting things one by one until a dream of too many sheep, too many knitting needles, and too many sweaters pushes her over the edge. Amanda's story is the forgettable vehicle for what is really at stake here: to disclose the mysteries of multiplication. While the illustrations make the concept graphically obvious, the text can be confusing: ``I know about the multiplication sign, X. It means that things can come in groups, or rows, or columns,'' but ``What I do not know are the multiplication facts.'' The term multiplication table is avoided, to no positive effect. At the end of the book, Marilyn Burns (The Greedy Triangle, 1995, etc.) does a credible, if prim, job of explaining the broad contexts of multiplication to adults working with children. (Picture book. 6-10)
Booklist Review
Ages 6^-8. Known to her friends as Bean Counter, young Amanda Bean happily counts "anything and everything" by ones, twos, fives, and tens. Although her teacher tells her that learning multiplication is important, Amanda remains unconvinced until a strange dream presents her with arithmetic challenges that overwhelm her counting skills. She awakens (in both senses) and learns to multiply "anything and everything." The purpose of the tale could have sunk this picture book with its pedagogical weight, but the light tone of the first-person text and the deft drawing, bright hues, and buoyant good humor of Woodruff's ink-and-watercolor illustrations keep it afloat. The book ends with suggestions for using the book to teach multiplication. --Carolyn Phelan
