ALA Booklist (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2004)

Murphy once again uses a lively classroom scenario to dramatize important math concepts. Here a group of kids come to school dressed cool in sequins and sunglasses for the first day of cool, and their cool teacher challenges them to keep it up for 99 more days. The next day the kids wear cool socks. On Day 5 they decorate their bikes. On Day 25 they dye their hair. A number line from 1 to 100 across the top of each double-page spread shows the passing time, and one carping kid always comments on how far the class still has to go (They're only 1/10th of the way there). The colored-pencil pictures show the kids in all their costumes and at play and work. The play and socializing dramatize the math, and, as always in the books in the fine MathStart series, there are suggestions to help adults talk about the concepts and relate them to a child's daily life.

Horn Book (Sun Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2004)

These books cover elementary math concepts: place value, capacity (or volume), and numbers one through one hundred on a number line. The stories--about a club that recycles cans, birds searching for the right-size home, students doing "cool" things for the first hundred days of school--make the concepts palatable, while the cartoony color art adds energy. Suggested activities conclude each book.

Kirkus Reviews

Murphy's latest entry in his popular MathStart series of easy-to-read math concept stories focuses on the 100th day of school celebration often observed in elementary school classrooms. At the beginning of the school year a group of five children at first think the idea is 100 days of cool (rather than school ), so they arrive for the first day in wild costumes and funny glasses. They rather like their misconception and the resulting esprit de corps, so they resolve to continue their pursuit of cool by sporting a different distinguishing trait each day. They try wearing special clothing, dying their hair, walking backward, decorating their bikes, and volunteering as a group, leading up to a celebratory party on day 100. A number line at the top of each spread tracks the progression of days toward 100, with additional conceptual points about fractions inserted in speech-balloon comments. The cool/school word play wears thin quickly, and the efforts of the group aren't particularly novel or funny. Bendall-Brunello does his best with watercolor-and-pencil illustrations that attempt to make the multi-ethnic group of kids lively and peppy, but this effort remains lukewarm. (author's note) (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-8)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-Four friends arrive at school on opening day wearing the jazziest of outfits, having heard that their new teacher intends to celebrate "100 days of cool." Although Mrs. Lopez really meant to mark "100 days of school," she challenges the students to continue for an additional 99 days, and the foursome collaborates to generate ideas for lots of silly costumes, playful pranks, and a more serious yet equally "cool" community service project. Despite their classmate Toby's doubts, the friends come up with a daily surprise and a means of marking the way to 100 and the promised party. This simple story focuses on the single concept of counting to 100. A number line divided by tens appears at the top of most pages, and the cheerful illustrations reflect students of all backgrounds and physical abilities. Arbitrary numbers such as 8, 17, and 41 are given equal fanfare with typical number intervals like 5, 10, and 25. While the book offers reliable reinforcement for one-by-one counters, it won't dazzle children who are ready to investigate numbers in groups. Trudy Harris's 100 Days of School (Millbrook, 1999) and Elinor Pinczes's perpetually cool One Hundred Hungry Ants (Houghton, 1993) are more imaginative choices. An additional purchase.-Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.