Claudia ZaslavskyRecensioni

What a very interesting and very confusing book!
I like that the book teaches readers the many different ways that we can count using our fingers.
The book contained natural connections to math, enabled discovery and a sense of wonder.½

Zaslavsky's math concept within her book is counting numbers using your fingers. The African people use their fingers to count how many things they need and how much it will cost them within their market place. There are many different ethnic groups from African that is mentioned in the book and they all have their different ways to count on their fingers which was interesting to learn. This book encourage my curiosity and it was easy to make a natural connection to mathematics.

In Africa people from all over come to the market to buy and sell their goods. Many of the people in the market do not speak the same language. How do they buy and sell with this language barrier? They use their fingers to communicate the exchange of goods for money. This books shows the different ways to represent numbers using your fingers. This book was very interesting and we enjoyed learning new ways to use your fingers to represent numbers.

Although this book did not have the best plot it shows great diversity though mathematics. The book explains the different ways people show number representations by their fingers in Africa. For the number 3 they do not just simply throw three fingers in the air, Massi boys pinch their thumb and pointer finger and rest their middle finger on the pointer finger to show the numerical value of the number 3. This is a great way to implement social studies, history, and diversity trough math in the classroom.

What an interesting read. So many different ways to convey what you want to say in the marketplace in Africa. There are many people speaking different languages yet they are communicate clearly with finger counting. As the author pointed out in the beginning of the book, as the younger generation become more educated and learn common languages the need for finger counting will become less common. All in all I found this book quite interesting and educational.

In the African marketplace, people buy and trade using many different languages including various methods of finger counting. This black and white picture book takes readers on a tour of the markets, showing the traditional finger counting styles of various African peoples. Many children develop math phobia early. This book explores the practicality of math within the context of African culture and helps children see that math can be fun and creative.

I am very thankful that I had chosen to read this book because this helped me learn something I never knew- people from different countries count numbers on their fingers differently. Although languages are different, I was unaware that the way we count and show numbers on our finger were different as well. This book teaches the reader different ways to show a certain amount of numbers on your fingers. This story is sure to gain the reader’s curiosity, while also teaching them something new about other cultures.

Very fun and informative way of counting on ones fingers. All of the different cultures had their own way of using their fingers to count. My favourite part was learning the literal description of what the number meant in each language.
The best thing about this book was all the questions that were asked and I think it will help keep the attention of younger readers. They also have a challenge at the end of the book to complete.
The illustrations were simple but they were amazingly effective and works so well.

In my opinion, this is a great multicultural books that discusses the different ways Africans use their fingers to count, depending on which area of Africa they live. I like this book for several reasons. The language was very clear and easy to follow. Readers are able to learn the different ways Africans count on their fingers, according to where they live in Africa. I really like this topic because it is very relatable, most children and many adults use their fingers to count. I found the writing to by very engaging, organized, and paced well. Several African terms are included in the text with their English translations. For example, “isithupa is the Zulu word for six.” This provides readers with a broader global perspective on African language. Other aspects of African culture and geographical locations, such as Mount Kilimanjaro, are mentioned in the book. Readers can learn these terms while comprehending African culture. I also like how this book is written in second person because the reader is involved and active in the story. The book reads, “How can you show that you want eight bananas?” In my opinion, the story is more interesting this way. I really enjoyed the beautiful illustrations, which set the mood and tone of Africa. Some illustrations are necessary to the story; there are drawings of hands and fingers being held up that go along with the words on that page. There are also vivid illustrations of various fruits, depending on which fruit the page is discussing. The main reason why I enjoyed this book is because it provides interesting information on finger counting in Africa that I never heard of before. I liked learning about this African counting style. This book pushes readers to broaden their perspectives on African traditions and realize that in some ways it is still similar to their learning methods. We each use our fingers to count. I believe children will be interested in this book because it provides new information on a different cultural background, yet it still relates to their lives. The big idea of this story is to learn different ways of counting on fingers, to understand African counting methods, and to realize how these methods are similar to our own.

I liked this book. It shows all over the world people use their fingers to count. I learned different, African ways to say different numbers.

This book covers how various villages in Africa count on their fingers. They use different finger signs to signal numbers. This allows people from villages that don't even speak the same languages or dialect to communicate and understand each other. This allows them to trade and do business with one another. It also offers some fun finger games to play and ideas to bolster creativity. The words for the different numbers used by various villages are shared as well.

I thought this book was great. It brings in sign language, African dialects, other cultures as well as simple math concepts. It is a great way to get students to see how others live. The illustrations are very simple which allow students to focus on the hand signs. It teaches students that villages that are neighbors may not even speak the same language which is a foreign concept to most Americans. It also goes into basic economics covering how these villages depend on trade with the others.

This book can be used in the classroom during multicultural month/week. The book suggests and activity to have the students come up with the own finger sings for numbers 1-10 and see if others can guess what they are saying. It links the African words for the numbers to our own language and students can even try to make their own new words. The entire book is interactive which allows the students to be drawn into it. The class can participate through the entire book.

I enjoyed reading this book, It explored the different ways to count across Africa. For teaching I may use parts top teach author notes, Africa, counting, multicultural, market, diversity, language, visiting the market, diversity, skin color, etc... Simple easy to follow and read text. ELL. Grades 2-8