Multiply On The Fly by Suzanne slade and illustrated by Erin E. Hunter

Hardcover $16.95ISBN: 9781607181286
Ages 4-9

About the book:  From pirate bugs to spittlebugs to lovely Luna moths, children will love learning about the world’s insects in Multiply on the Fly! Following in the footsteps of What’s New at the Zoo? and What’s the Difference, this rhythmic book teaches multiplication in a way that will make children “bug” you for more. Teeming with fun facts, readers will multiply a variety of insects, including daring dragonflies, hungry honeybees, and stealthy walking sticks. The “For Creative Minds” section in the back of the book keeps the fun rolling with facts about the insect life cycle, matching insect activities, and multiplication guides to make anyone a multiplication master.

Review: Multiply On The Fly is a many faceted children's book. Beautifully illustrated with remarkably accurate drawings of insects by Erin Hunter, each page describes a feature of the insect on that two-page spread in well done rhyming prose. What is so interesting about this is that first of all it rhymes. Next it speaks to a specific characteristic of the insect. Then on most of the pages alliteration is utilized adding depth to the text. Lastly and as the main feature of the book, a multiplication "task" is presented.

This is very much for a young child's book. And it will behoove the adult to guide the child to grasp each of these tenets.  I find that learning can be lots of fun. It doesn't have to be just academic, fact finding, instruction. Let's have some fun while we're doing it. That is what Multiply On The Fly does for you.

Some interesting "alliteration" in the rhyming prose....

"Seven stealthy walking sticks"
"Each eats eight spider mites."
"Six sturdy soldier ants"
"How long is the luna line?"

I also love how the back of the book has a "Creative Minds" section. This includes pages on insects.... Insect Body Parts, Match the Insects, Insect Life Cycles, and Compare and Contrast. These are beautifully and and with remarkable accuracy done. A great learning and reference tool. Then don't forget this book is all about multiplication! There are a couple of pages recapping the story pages and the specific multiplication problems. And there is an Insect Multiplication Table. Just lots of good learning fun!

Author/Illustrator Info:  Suzanne Slade is the award-winning author of over 80 books for children including The Great Divide, Multiply on the Fly, What’s the Difference?, What’s New at the Zoo?, and Animals are Sleeping for Arbordale. Her works include picture books, biographies, and many non-fiction titles about animals, sports, and nature. One of her favorite parts of the writing process is researching and learning new things. Suzanne lives near Chicago with her husband Mike, two children, and their tiny dog Corduroy. She enjoys visiting schools in-person or during her live virtual author visits. 

As both a children’s book and scientific illustrator, Erin Hunter specializes in entomological and botanical illustrations. She illustrated The Great Divide, Multiply on the Fly, and A Day on the Mountain for Arbordale, and she has taught botanical illustration and field sketching at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Erin’s portfolio includes print and online design projects for clients ranging from marketing firms to culinary groups to educational organizations—and she’s drawn insects under a microscope for the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. Erin lives with her husband on California’s Monterey Peninsula. When she’s not sketching and painting, she tends to flowers, fruit trees, and vegetables in her backyard garden.

DISCLOSURE: A complimentary review copy was provided by Arbordale Publications in exchange for my review. Opinions expressed are solely my own and I was not compensated for this review.