Book 4

Let’s Add Up!

by Victoria Allenby

Published 12 January 2023

6 pots + 4 pans = 10 dishes…or a feast! With the imaginative play of these creative preschoolers, exploring the concepts of categorization and adding up to 10 has never been so much fun.

If you ask a grown-up to add up 8 cars + 2 trucks, they’ll probably say that’s 10 vehicles. And it’s true. But these 10 young friends know what else those things add up to: a race! What will they do with 7 robes + 3 capes? Or 6 pots + 4 pans? 10 simple objects can have infinite possibilities.

Previously in the Big, Little Concepts series, author Victoria Allenby packaged important kindergarten readiness skills in preschooler-perfect books, featuring shape recognition in Shape Up, Construction Trucks and sound and rhythm in Listen Up! Train Song. In Let’s Add Up!, aided by the sweet and lively illustrations of Maggie Zeng, she cleverly tucks lessons on categorization and all the ways to compose the number 10 into a playdate full of enticing imagination and creative play. A closing note to caregivers offers enriching, age-appropriate activities to keep building their child’s foundational learning skills. After all, 5 story time snuggles + 5 more = 10 opportunities to build lifelong learning!


Look up High! Jet planes fly. 
How? Where? Look up there!
 
The jet plane soars across the sky. 

Helicopters, gliders, and planes—oh my! Preschoolers never get tired of cool flying machines. Indulge their love for things with wings (and a few without) with bright photographs and jaunty verse that makes it easy for pre-readers to chime in. They won’t even notice the subtle language lesson in prepositions as the hot air balloon drifts between the mountains, the water bomber swoops through the smoke, and the space station orbits around the Earth. 

With Look Up High! Things That Fly, Victoria Allenby adds another kid-tastic instalment to the Big, Little Concept Books collection that has already graced story times with the Mathical Book Prize honor book Shape Up, Construction Trucks!, the sound-celebrating Listen Up! Train Song, and Let’s Add Up!, where addition meets imagination. Like its predecessors, the book features a closing note to caregivers with age-appropriate enrichment activities to extend both the learning and the fun. But they needn’t worry about handing the whole thing over to their children, since the padded cover, rounded corners, and extra-sturdy paper of this Toddler Tough format can endure many a rough reading. Now spread your wings and ask yourself: How would YOU zoom across the sky?