Pick of the Day: That’s a Possibility! A Book About What Might Happen

SLJ — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 09:00:08 +0000

GOLDSTONE, Bruce. That’s a Possibility!: A Book About What Might Happen. 32p. illus. photos. Holt. 2013. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8050-8998-1.
K-Gr 4–As he did in Great Estimations (Holt, 2006), Goldstone takes a mathematical concept and makes it easily understandable for children and great fun as well. Using a question/answer format, he explains possibility, impossibility, probability, improbability, and certainty. Each concept is accompanied by photographs that are not only sharp and clear, but that also employ colors that make the pictures really pop. Varying sizes and fonts add interest, and the subjects that Goldstone has chosen to illustrate the concepts have a great deal of child appeal. The pages featuring combinations have adorable Squidgy the Bear dressed in the 100 outfits made possible by his possessing 10 shirts and 10 pairs of pants. It’s “bearly possible” to predict which outfit he will wear because of the 1 in 100 odds. This book will be a boon to teachers working with these concepts, and it will attract browsers as well. A first purchase.–Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

School Library Journal» Bruce Goldstone

Pick of the Day: That’s a Possibility! A Book About What Might Happen