Isobel Adds It Up

PreS-Gr 3--Sprawled across her bed, pencil poised, Isobel, a mathematically minded young Black girl, is eager to add, subtract, multiply, and divide her way to completing her homework assignment. In charming artwork, clouds of numbers, symbols, graphs, and equations billow from her busy brain and dance across the page in a swirl of arithematical bliss. Then Isobel is distracted by the ruckus coming from her new neighbors. The equations in her head are abruptly replaced with theories of what is happening next door. Acrobats? Marching band? Conga line? Isobel worries that she will not be able to finish her assignment if the noisy neighbors can not quiet down. Engaging her problem-solving skills, Isobel whips up a batch of cookies and a note of plea for the neighbors. She unexpectedly receives a response from another girl, Bernadette, who is not anything like Isobel imagined. In her debut picture book, Everington delivers a story sure to inspire early elementary school students also beginning to learn basic math. VERDICT An imaginative read-aloud recommended for teachers wanting to connect literacy and math and for public libraries looking to upgrade their collection of girl-empowering STEAM books.--Emily Brush, Novi P.L., MI

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"An imaginative read-aloud recommended for teachers wanting to connect literacy and math and for public libraries looking to upgrade their collection of girl-empowering STEAM books." -School Library Journal, starred review

"Sprawled across her bed, pencil poised, Isobel, a mathematically minded young Black girl, is eager to add, subtract, multiply, and divide her way to completing her homework assignment. In charming artwork, clouds of numbers, symbols, graphs, and equations billow from her busy brain and dance across the page in a swirl of arithematical bliss." —School Library Journal, starred review

"Not only is it refreshing to read a story about a little girl who loves math, but it is also exciting to read a book in which a child learns to establish boundaries in a way that is kind and fair. Ford illustrates Isobel's reality in full color, with skewed angles to emphasize the disruption to her routines; both the equations she's trying to work and her imagined scenes are represented as monochrome, white-space-filling cartoons. An adorable story about friendship and learning how to state your needs." —Kirkus Reviews