Puzzlers: Library Edition

Suse MacDonald

ISBN 10: 0803706901 ISBN 13: 9780803706903

Publisher: Dial Books, 1989

Synopsis

An introduction to elementary concepts such as "widest," "tallest," and "back-to-back" where the reader is asked to pick out the number with that quality in an animal that is made up of numbers.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 4-- Animals designed from numbers continue the visual adventures of MacDonald's Alphabatics (Bradbury, 1986) and MacDonald and Oakes' Numblers (Dial, 1988), but in a somewhat less satisfactory manner. The monkey, for example, is formed in part with mirrored number sevens. A single line of print directs, "Find the facing numbers." In this way, a page at a time, children are encouraged to identify complicated concepts such as facing, sequence, overlap, and others. Three boxes on the left page provide help by showing a number from one to ten and its transformation into an abstraction. The right page is the animal puzzler itself. Answers to puzzlers are explained, and the authors suggest additional picture games at the back of the book. This is a fascinating concept that admirably expresses the authors' dedication "to thinking in new ways." However, the book is too complex in theme and visual appeal for most preschoolers. The puzzle aspect may attract primary grade children, but even they are likely to be frustrated by some of the more difficult concepts and abstractions in this book. --Anna Biagioni Hart, Sherwood Regional Library, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

This new work by the renowned artist tells of a young painter's anguish when he is ordered to create false, flattering likenesses by several members of the king's court. Adrian dallies at this task but paints brilliant, inspired portraits of the king's lovely daughter, and his honesty and talent are recognized and rewarded. His tale--related by an elderly mentor--serves more as a vehicle for espousing the importance of artistic integrity than as a story with dramatic interest: the telling is studied and unabashedly deliberate, the characters embodiments of ideas rather than fully realized figures. But Locker's oils go a long way toward redeeming the narrative's flatness. Rich, dark interiors capture the intensity of the artist's world, while the landscapes, at once majestic and melancholic, reveal that Locker shares Adrian's passion for rendering "the sparkle of the changing light and the feeling of the wind in the trees." All ages.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dial Books
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0803706901
• ISBN 13: 9780803706903
• Binding: Library Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32