Great Estimations - Softcover

Bruce Goldstone is the author of several books, including 100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days, Greater Estimations and The Beastly Feast. He has worked in educational publishing for nearly twenty years. Growing up in Ohio, Bruce fell in love with reading and the magic of words, and even back then he knew he wanted to be a writer. Books have always been an important part of his life, from buying used paperbacks to his first job, shelving books as a library page. He now lives in New York City with a plethora of pets including one dog, three parakeets, and an aquarium.

Grade 1-4–Goldstone adds another winner to the growing canon of titles that make learning math concepts both fun and interesting. Combining clear, concise language with colorful photos of countable objects, he introduces estimation, beginning with eye-training exercises to recognize groupings of 10s, 100s, and 1000s. Readers are encouraged to move the book around so they can see the items from varying perspectives. The next few spreads explain how to base an estimate on quantified groups: left-hand pages show clusters of an object (10 cherries, 100 cherries) while right-hand pages present an unidentified amount of the same thing (About how many cherries are in a quart?). The author then shows youngsters how to make reasonable estimates when looking at large quantities using clump counting and box counting. The real standout here is the crisp photography of objects and animals, including everything from google eyes to a penguin colony, set against stark white backgrounds that make them almost seem to leap off the page. This well-designed book will add zing to many a math lesson and attract browsers as well.–Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
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