Monster Musical Chairs (Math Start 1)

K-Gr 1-In this book about subtraction, written in couplets with a beat as definite as that of the rock band supplying the music, six smiling monsters are engaged in an animated game of musical chairs. The action begins when the little creatures forcefully throw chairs across the room, telling everybody to "duck." The game proceeds with chairs and monsters being eliminated one by one. The characters' heads are pictured in a vertical row along the outside edge of the right-hand pages, with an X over the one that was unseated in that round. Unfortunately, the order of the heads varies from page to page, muddling the subtraction concept. Starting with an unequal number of chairs and monsters, subtracting one from each group simultaneously, and finally ending with one chair and one monster may be very confusing to young children. The most valuable part of this book is the list of suggested extension activities at the end. Pat Brisson's Benny's Pennies (Bantam, 1995) and Eileen Christelow's Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree (Clarion, 1991) are more to the point.-Lynda Ritterman, Atco Elementary School, NJ Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.