Betsy Franco and Doug Cushman
Tricycle Press, $15.99, 32 pages
Double Play – Monkeying Around with Addition by award winning author Betsy Franco was done in response to discussions with teachers. The resulting book is a fun way for young children to learn addition, and paves the way for learning multiplication. The rhymes that help them learn are cute and fun, though don’t always have perfect meter, but do the job nicely. (I’m a stickler when it comes to rhyming books.) Written for Pre K to first grade, Betsy has done a fabulous job of teaching, while making it fun. The art by Dough Cushman is cute, and funny in its own right.
The book itself is first class, from the dust jacket and endpaper designs to the binding method. This book should last a good long time, probably hundreds of readings, maybe to be handed down to the current crop of young readers’ children or possibly their grandchildren. All in all, it’s a great book for the purpose; you can’t ask more than that.
David Broughton