Synopsis
Mary Clare loves to share. If there's food around, Mary Clare fairly divides it up and shares it with her friends and family, no matter how many there are! This rhythmic, rhyming reader clearly demonstrates the concept of fractions in a bouncy and sweet—and savory—way!
Children's Literature
The premise of sharing is a way of introducing fractions in the Level 2 math reader, which is part of the "Step Into Reading" series. It starts with a simple concept—cutting a pear in half to share with Mary Clare's friend Lee. It gets increasingly more difficult as more of her friends join the scene and different items—mainly food—are divided into thirds, quarters, fifths, etc. The text has a rhythm to it and the pictures clearly show the segments so kids can easily count them. A cookie broken into four parts is "One-fourth just one bite!" The best part is at the end when nine friends join Mary Clare to help celebrate her birthday. The introductory pages contain notes to parents and an explanation of the various levels in the series.