A Beautiful House for Birds
(Storytelling Math)

When a girl decorates a birdhouse, readers learn about patterns.
Lin's brilliant new addition to the Storytelling Math series explores a single math concept with a simple story told in language appropriate to the board-book set. A Black girl named Olivia, a recurring character in the series, has a wooden birdhouse. "How should I paint it?" she asks readers. Spare wording on each page explains her choice--pink and green stripes--introduces the word pattern, and asks readers to guess which color would come next. Then, in a clever twist, she gets distracted ("Oh hello, birds!") and accidentally paints a blue stripe. "Oops!" The blue stripe isn't in the pattern, but after a brief frown, she finds a solution, giving caregivers an opportunity to discuss both more complicated math concepts and making mistakes. It is impressive how few words Lin uses to convey important foundational concepts of patterns, problem-solving, and caring for animals--all in language accessible to toddlers. Her signature painting style is both colorful and homey, its black outlines and visible paint strokes exuding a relaxed feel. Backmatter discusses the importance of learning about patterns and empowers adults to extend the learning through conversation and by noticing patterns all around them.
An exceptionally layered and educational board book.

K-Gr 2--This book introduces the concept of pattern as a little Black girl paints a birdhouse. With the sparest of texts and bold, inviting pictures, Lin conveys the idea of patterns with the alternating pink and green stripes Olivia paints on her birdhouse roof. Then Olivia accidentally paints a blue stripe. How to salvage her pattern? No problem. She just creates a new pattern that incorporates the blue. An explanation of the foundational importance of recognizing patterns and some appropriate extension activities are included, as is a link to further math activities on a website. VERDICT This attractive, very brief title will serve best as a springboard for primary grade math lessons.--Jan Aldrich Solow

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