Using a blend of fun poetry, clearly written helping text, and riddles, this book takes the mystery out of math and makes solving word problems fun. After all, what is a word problem but a cleverly concealed riddle?
The book focuses on fractions, starting with basic fractions and then moving on to more advanced concepts such as equivalent fractions, reduced fractions, and addition with fractions.
Readers learn to interpret pie-graph representations of fractions and also learn about negative numbers, number sentences, quantity comparisons, and the concept of infinity.
A glossary of math terms and a brief review appear at the end of the book.

In this book, William Corsaro and his Italian co-author, Luisa Molinari, tell a complete and important story about the lives of children as they grow from young preschoolers to preadolescents in Modena, Italy.
The authors both fully explore and participate in the rich, complex history and development of the Italian early education system. This compelling ethnographic study:

* Documents how young children in Italy are prepared, or primed, for the transition from preschool to elementary school.
* Examines how the transition relates to academic and social development, including details about the children’s school and peer cultures before, during, and after the transition.
* Includes interviews with parents, teachers, and children, engaging anecdotes, and examples of children’s art and literacy projects.
* Suggests dramatically different approaches that schools and communities can take to support children’s and families’ development and learning.

Barack Obama, a black man raised by his white mother and grandparents, decided to journey to Kenya to learn more about his African father after receiving news of his death. This memoir is not about his father's life, but about Obama's, and he brings that home with an intimate tone rather than that of his public speeches. (His 2004 Democratic Convention keynote address is included at the end.)
Throughout the book, the U.S. Senator looks at race from the point of view of someone who has seen and been part of a variety of cultures, and he explains how his perspective shaped his views. The book, written in 1995, before his election to the Illinois Senate, gives listeners a chance to learn more about a young senator who has recently made news by speaking out on the Patriot Act and President Bush's next Supreme Court nomination.