ALA Booklist (Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2007)

Miss Bloom, proprietress of the Strawberry Inn, hopes to fill its six bedrooms. Guests arrive throughout the day, from Sea Captain Duffy to Duchess Boofaye (accompanied by her lapdog, Smoochie) to race-car driver Johnny Z. Power. She serves them dinner but forgets to bring out the elegant strawberry whipped-cream cake. After bedtime, the five guests sneak downstairs to divide the cake into six slices, saving the last for their surprised hostess. As each guest arrives, the number of rooms filled is expressed as a fraction in a couplet and in large numerals on the double-page spread. Fractions appear again on the nearly empty cake stand at the book's conclusion. Written in rhyme and illustrated with jovial pencil-and-watercolor artwork, the story may be a bit frothy, but a light touch is needed in introducing fractions to children who view the topic with trepidation. This colorful, upbeat picture book shows fractions in a nonthreatening manner and lets children, teachers, and parents decide if they want to use the story as a springboard to further instruction.

Horn Book (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2008)

As guests arrive at Miss Bloom's six-room inn, rhyming couplets track occupancy: "Now ONE room of SIX had a guest for the night. / To fill up the inn would be pure delight." Though the rhythm is occasionally off-kilter, the book provides a high-spirited, creative approach to fractions. Watercolor illustrations incorporate many homey patterns and humorous details.

Kirkus Reviews

The Strawberry Inn has vacancies for children who'd like to learn about fractions—as long as they don't mind the wacky array of other guests in the inn. Miss Bloom is the innkeeper and welcomes each new arrival with aplomb, from the fishy-smelling sea captain to the Duchess and her pampered pooch. All enjoy her wonderful dinner. All also notice that she forgot to serve dessert, something quickly remedied by the bath-robed characters in the middle of the night. Repetitious phrasing and rollicking rhymes make this a good choice for younger readers, as do the visuals used to portray fractional amounts. Carter uses the inn itself and lights the six windows according to the number of rooms occupied, while also giving the fractional equivalent. The same is done with the cake, which, luckily for Miss Bloom, has one-sixth left for her. The brightly colored watercolor illustrations are quirky and delightfully detailed, and the cast of characters brimming with personality. Teachers should reserve a space on their bookshelves for this one. (Picture book. 5-9)

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3-Fresh, whimsical watercolor illustrations fairly float off the pages in this title. Rhyming text invites readers to enjoy every moment at the Strawberry Inn, and simple fractions are woven into the story as Miss Bloom welcomes a variety of guests to her six-room establishment. As assorted characters arrive, fractions are used to show how the space fills up: "Now ONE room of SIX had a guest for the night./To fill up the inn would be pure delight! 1/6." This repeated refrain is used throughout to emphasize the increasing numbers until Miss Bloom finally gets a full house when six out of six equals one. To further emphasize the concept, a celebratory pie is cut into sixths. Though some of the verses are a bit contrived to create the rhyme, this is still a fun choice for reinforcing the concept of fractions.-Judy Chichinski, Skyline Elementary School, Tacoma, WA Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.