Pictographs

Children's Literature - Melissa J. Rickey

Brightly colored photographs, carefully matched with simple and direct text facilitate children's mathematical thinking and comprehension. Short chapters entitled "Using Pictures," "Getting to School," "The Garden," "Party Time," and "What Do You Eat," define and demonstrate how pictographs are made and illustrate the forms that such graphs can take. For example, a series of photographs illustrates that pictographs "use pictures to show how many," and that a pictograph can compare the numbers of white bunnies and spotted bunnies in a box. "The pictograph shows we have more white bunnies. The key at the bottom shows each drawing means one animal." The pictograph concept is reinforced with further examples that compare the number of children who ride bikes, take a bus, or walk to school, the number and distribution of seeds in a garden, the number and kinds supplies needed for a party, and the foods eaten most often in different settings. Other features integral to the book's design include a table of contents, glossary, a list of further readings, internet sites, and an index. Teachers can use this book as a read aloud in primary classrooms and for early readers' independent reading. This nonfiction picture book is part of the "Making Graphs Series," which introduces young readers to graphing concepts. Reviewer: Melissa J. Rickey