(ISBN: 9780689858819)
Chicka Chicka 1-2-3 by Bill Martin Jr is a fun book about numbers!
1 dares 2, and 2 dares 3 to race up the apple tree, and so the rest of the numbers join the race up the apple tree. 0 wishes to join them, but doesn’t know if there will be a place for him in the tree. More and more numbers join the race, while 0 is unknowingly ignored by the other numbers and eventually he begins to cry, feeling all left out.
Suddenly a swarm of bumblebees appear! “Get out of our tree!”, they shout. All the numbers get such a big fright that they tumble out of the tree. Except for Zero, who hides behind it! 11 gets bent up, 8 gets a crack, and 6 gets all twisted… And while they’re all laying in pain, suddenly Zero knows where his place is! He musters his courage and joins 10 (who hid in the top of the tree) to form 100, and together they are big enough to chase away the bumblebees! The numbers all cheer for Zero as their new hero!
Chicka Chicka 1-2-3 can be used to teach counting and place value to young children. And that is what Zorb did during our Book Club Hour with Little Sprouts at Thorntree Preparatory School today! The catchy rhyme that Number 0 sulks makes the book very interactive for young kids, and there are so many activities that can be based on this book!
