The Greatest Gymnast of All: Opposites ANNOTATION
While performing an energetic gymnastic routine, Zoe demonstrates such spatial opposites as on and off, inside and outside, and over and under.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Zoe zips and zooms around the gym. She's on and off the mats, over and under the bar! She's the greatest—in gymnastics and at demonstrating opposites.
FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Carolyn Mott Ford
This is a Level 1 book in the "MathStart" series, and the focus is on opposites. Zipping, zooming Zoe is a young gymnast who brags about being "the greatest gymnast of all." She cartwheels on and off the mat, swings up and down, and her jumps are long and short. Zoe is over and under the hoop and she is inside and outside the hoop. She rolls forward and backward and jumps high and low. Just as in a young child's daydream, Zoe is awarded four blue ribbons to pin on her jacket as well as a gold cup. Her triumph is headlined in the newspaper. The illustrations are colorful and appealing and the text is fun to read. There are suggestions for adults and kids in the back of the book. Several involve how to encourage a child while reading the book together and others give ideas for working with math concepts in a playful way.
Kirkus Reviews
In Jabar's smudgy, action-filled illustrations for this MathStart entry, Zoe is a charming, freckled "greatest gymnast of them all"þin her own wordsþand demonstrates her expertise while introducing opposites: over, under, high, low, backward, forward, up, down, inside, outside, near, far. She tumbles across the mat, along the balance beam, and around the high bar. Adults looking on will have to hope that this is all in Zoe's imagination, for she performs without spotters; more importantly, Murphy (Lemonade for Sale, 1998, etc.) never links the idea of opposites to math. An exuberant concept book on its own, it may confuse those looking for math-oriented enlightenment. (Picture book. 3-5)
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