Luna's Yum Yum Dim Sum (Storytelling Math)

PreS-Gr 3--The latest installment of the "Storytelling Math" series, which deepens understanding of math concepts through engaging stories. It is young Luna's birthday, and she and her brothers are taken to a dim sum restaurant as a special treat. Luna, Kai, and Benji use the six pork buns they share to explain the concept of division. After receiving the buns, Luna drops one, causing the siblings to have to rethink dividing them up. Each sibling tries a few different ways to convince the group why they are deserving of a larger amount of food, but in the end, the children find a way to share the food equally while making a new friend. Ma Ma and Ba Ba do not intervene in the argument; they are hands-off and even seem amused by the children's bickering. Kim's soft, gentle, and playful illustrations nudge readers toward not taking the argument too seriously. While skin tone is somewhat varied when representing characters in the restaurant, there is no difference in the representation of their facial features (all have dots for eyes and similar angles for noses). The book's back matter contains useful information about dim sum, the Chinese zodiac, and the mathematical concept of division, as well as four extension activities. VERDICT A good addition to collections that support STEM programming or where this series circulates well already.--Shannon O'Connor, Unami M.S., Chalfont, PA