ALA Booklist

When Albert, a little mouse, and his big sister, Wanda, visit Mousey World, he rejects one ride after another. Not that he's scared, he insists; he just doesn't like things that go up and down . . . or right and left . . . or through tunnels . . . and so on. Finally, he agrees to try the Chew Chew Train, which simply goes forward slowly. After a mix-up results in a wild Tail Twister roller coaster, Albert discovers that he loves riding "up, down, and all around." From the Mouse Math series, this title emphasizes terms such as up, down, right, left, around, and toward by printing the words in bold and using red directional arrows to reinforce their meanings. For parents and teachers wondering how this concept relates to math, a note points out the importance of "direction words" in early math learning. An appended section suggests activities as well as a game and a project to reinforce the lesson. This colorful picture book offers a light, amusing introduction to directional terms.

Horn Book (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

In these purposive installments, mouse siblings Albert and Wanda learn about direction through rides at an "amousement park" and about capacity when they try to fill a bowl in the sandbox with water. Scared adequately illustrates directional vocabulary, while Beach's elucidation of volume is fairly vague. Soft illustrations of friendly mice welcome readers to the concept lessons. Two activity pages are appended.

School Library Journal (Fri Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

MAY, Eleanor . A Beach for Albert . ISBN 9781575655307 ; ISBN 9781575655314 ; ISBN 9781575655321 . LC 2012051087. ea vol: illus. by Deborah Melmon. 32p. (Mouse Math Series). Kane Press . 2013. lib. ed. $22.60; pap. $7.95; ebk. $16.95. PreS-Gr 1 In NOT Scared , Albert and Wanda go to an amusement park, but he refuses to go on any ride that goes left, right, up, down, across, through, or around. He finally agrees to go on the train, but they end up in the wrong line and get on the roller coaster, which causes Albert to exclaim, "I love it!" In the second book, when "the people" go to the seaside, the mice siblings decide to make a beach in the sandbox. They already have sand and sun, but need water. Albert decides to make a bowl into a pool but it is taking too long to fill it with his small pail. He then tries another pail and a toy dump truck, but neither works. Finally, Wanda comes up with an idea and she invites many friends. When they all help, the pool is filled quickly. This is a good resource for capacity and problem solving. With conversational texts that are easy to understand and illustrations that are child-friendly and colorful, these books are educational without being obvious. Teachers can easily incorporate them into lessons. Stephanie Farnlacher, Trace Crossings Elementary School, Hoover, AL