A Beautiful House for Birds (Storytelling Math)

by Grace Lin (Author) Grace Lin (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

Caldecott Honor winner Grace Lin celebrates math for every kid, everywhere!

Olivia wants to make a colorful birdhouse for summer. She starts painting a pattern of stripes on the roof but then oops!--messes up. Now what? Explore patterns in this playful story about creative problem-solving.

Storytelling Math celebrates children using math in their daily adventures as they play, build, and discover the world around them. Joyful stories and hands-on activities make it easy for kids and their grown-ups to explore everyday math together. Developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education nonprofit TERC, under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.

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Kirkus Reviews

Starred Review
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.

School Library Journal

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

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

 
Grace Lin
Grace Lin (she/her), a New York Times bestselling author/illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and the Theodor Geisel Honor for Ling and Ting. Her novel When the Sea Turned to Silver was a National Book Award Finalist, and her picture book A Big Mooncake for Little Star was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is also an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio, a reviewer for The New York Times, a video essayist for PBS NewsHour, and the speaker of the popular TEDx Talk "The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child's Bookshelf," as well as hosting the two podcasts: kidlitwomen* and Kids Ask Authors. In 2016, Grace's art was displayed at the White House, where Grace herself was recognized by President Obama's office as a Champion of Change for Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling. You can visit Grace online at gracelin.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @pacylin.

Chelsea Clinton (she/her) is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of She Persisted, She Persisted Around the World, She Persisted in Sports, She Persisted in Science, Don't Let Them Disappear, It's Your World and Start Now!, as well as Grandma's Gardens and The Book of Gutsy Women, which she wrote with Hillary Clinton, and Governing Global Health with Devi Sridhar. Chelsea earned a master's degree in public health from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, where she is now an adjunct assistant professor, and a PhD in international relations from Oxford University. She is also the Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, where she works on many initiatives, including those that help empower the next generation of leaders. She lives in New York City with her husband, Marc, their three children and their dog, Soren.

Gillian Flint (she/her) is an illustrator who has a passion for painting in watercolors. She has been drawing and creating characters for as long as she can remember. Her work has been published in the USA, the UK and Australia. In her spare time she enjoys reading and gardening at her home in the UK. You can visit Gillian online at gillianflint.com and follow her on Instagram @gillianflint_illustration.

Alexandra Boiger (she/her) has illustrated nearly twenty picture books, including the She Persisted series by by Chelsea Clinton; the popular Tallulah series by Marilyn Singer; and the Max and Marla books, which she also wrote. Originally from Munich, Germany, she now lives outside of San Francisco, California, with her husband, Andrea; daughter, Vanessa; and two cats, Luiso and Winter. You can visit Alexandra online at alexandraboiger.com and follow her on Instagram @alexandra_boiger.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781623543471
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Charlesbridge Publishing
Publication date
March 20, 2023
Series
Storytelling Math
BISAC categories
JUV002040 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Birds
JUV009030 - Juvenile Fiction | Concepts | Counting & Numbers
JUV074000 - Juvenile Fiction | Diversity & Multicultural
Library of Congress categories
Mathematics
Board books
Pattern perception
Birdhouses
Stripes

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