Counting Crocodiles & Monster Math

This two-fer designed to illustrate math concepts for viewers ages 3-7 through fanciful stories both feature narration by Dave Calabrese. Written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand, the iconographic-animated adaptation of the 1997 picture book Counting Crocodiles follows a crafty monkey who tires of the lemon trees on his island and decides to swindle a group of sea-dwelling crocodiles into helping him reach a nearby atoll full of bananas. Helpfully offering to count the crocs, the monkey sneakily rhymes its way across the backs of one-through-10 croc groups (six crocs with pink mohawks; 10 crocs dressed like Goldilocks, etc.), returning with a bunch of the desired fruit. In the iconographic-animated Monster Math, based on the 1999 picture book by author Anne Miranda and illustrator Polly Powell, viewers join the birthday celebration of “one little monster (who) is looking at you” and her purple octopus-like mother (who wears cat's eye glasses) as fellow monsters show up for the festivities…one by one up to 10, and then break off in groups for activities including bouncing, screaming, racing, and a Twister-like game. Concepts of subtraction are introduced as the weary mother eventually starts to kick guests out. Culminating with a review segment, this math-themed double-feature serves up exponential fun. Recommended. Aud: K, P. (J. Williams-Wood)