Hands-on activities encourage playing with fractions rather than memorizing rules. A pizza math project, particularly suitable for kinesthetic/visual learners, helps kids understand patterns in fraction notation and recognize changes in value as denominators and numerators increase or decrease. Colorful graphics and cartoon characters (including a pizza-stealing dog) enliven the straightforward text.

Gr 2-4-For many young students, the mere mention of fractions brings on headache, tummyache, and confusion. But no longer! This simple, hands-on concept book is clear and concise. The simple definition of a fraction, that it is a part of something, introduces a pizza pie that is divided, studied, compared, and, of course, eaten. Weighing coins determines how many make one ounce, and what the fractional value of each coin is. The cartoonlike illustrations are colorful, whimsical, and humorous; they also make the concepts clear. Without a fraction of a doubt, parents and teachers will find limitless possibilities in this book.-Patricia Mahoney Brown, Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, Kenmore, NY