ALA Booklist (Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 CST 1998)

From the MathStart series, this story in rhyme lays out five simple addition problems. A truck driver, Jill, watches as a series of trucks--all pulling different animals--pass her by. The math gets worked into the story as Jill adds, for example, the six swans on one truck to the one swan on a second truck (6+1=7 is imbedded in the text). Using this pattern, the reader is able to practice addition while guessing the trucks' final destination. The last line of the story reads Can you find 5 tigers, 7 swans, 8 frogs, 10 horses, and 9 pandas? , and Alley's watercolor shows a giant carousel. Two pages of activities are appended, but an obvious omission is asking children to calculate the total number of animals on the carousel. (Reviewed November 1, 1998)

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1999)

Truck driver Jill and her smiling pooch solve four addition problems as they count the number of carousel animals being hauled by passing tractor trailers. Lively watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations provide important visual clues, which reinforce this conceptual introduction to addition. The text's thudding rhyme scheme is a distraction. Related activities and stories are appended.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-This picture book tells a story and reinforces the concept of addition. The lively watercolor illustrations serve both missions well. While on the road, a female truck driver and a dog are passed by many other vehicles loaded with various animals. As their journey advances so do the math problems, going from the simple "3 + 2 = 5" to the final "9 + 0 = 9." However, there is no logical progression in the examples provided; why does "6 + 1 = 7" follow "3 + 2 = 5?" The text is told in rhyme, which adds to the sense of movement but it is rather singsong. All of the characters end up at a carousel (made from the drivers' freight) and the final illustrations capture their joy and excitement. The book ends with a two-page spread of suggested activities for kids and adults. The "Level 2" designation suggests that this is designed for ages 6 and up but the simplicity of the story and rhyme as well as the juvenile nature of the illustrations would be more appealing to a younger audience.-Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC