Title: I Can Add Bills and Coins
Author: Rebecca Wingard-Nelson
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
ISBN: 13: 978-0-7660-3657-4
Reviewed by: Karen Cioffi
What parent doesn't want his child to learn about money. And, wouldn't early grade school teachers appreciate a book that will help them to demonstrate what each coin and bill looks like as well inform the child of its actual monetary value. I Can Add Bills and Coins does just this. It is a wonderful learning book for children in grade levels K to 3. I think it is also useful for pre-school children. The very young mind is an amazing tool that can absorb amazing amounts of information like a sponge.
Not only does I Can Add Bills and Coins convey what money looks like (through actual pictures of the coins and bills) and each of their value, but it also teaches how to add money.
Each page of I Can Add Bills and Coins focuses on particular coins or bills. For example it begins with a page displaying a penny through a quarter, and a one-dollar bill through a twenty-dollar bill; the value of each coin and bill is displayed next to each picture. The value is written out and also displayed in numbers with the appropriate value symbol. The next page shows two nickels and 6 pennies. The child is asked if he/she knows how much that is. Then the book goes on to explain in text and visualization how to add the coins in two different ways: ascertaining the value of each coin and adding them together, and by adding the similar coins together and then adding those totals together. This method cleverly helps the child comprehend the addition of coins and bills.
The last page is Adding Dollars and Cents. Using the same method on each page, the child will gain confidence in working through to a solution. After this, the author included a Let's Review page, a Learn More page, and an Index.
What I especially like about his book is that each coin and bill is clearly shown, including the back of each coin. And, the coins are shown in their actual size.
This 24-page book is a sure to be a useful tool for parents and teachers. It will certainly help teach young children about money. I will be reading I Can Add Bills and Coins to my young grandchildren.
by Karen Cioffi
