By Suzanne Slade with illustration by Erin E. Hunter
Sylvan Dell, $ 8.95, 32 pages
ISBN 9781607181385

A child who understands addition must make a small leap to understand the concept of multiplication. Through Multiply on the  Fly, author Suzanne Slade and illustrator Erin E. Hunter make that small leap a great deal of fun.

Here, Slade and Hunter use the world of insects to present eleven multiplication problems. For example, children are invited to count the wings on five grasshoppers to discover what five multiplied by two equals. All of this told in clever rhyme with beautiful illustrations of insects and their environments, which make solving the multiplication problems a delightful hunt. Finally, the last six pages of the text contain activities to extend the learning opportunities, including information on insect body parts, a match-the-insect activity, information on the insect life cycle, a compare-and-contrast activity, more multiplication practice and an insect multiplication table.

Multiply on the Fly is a wonderful book for either the parent or teacher who wants to introduce the concept of multiplication in a fun, easy way. And if the child happens to have an interest in insects, all the better!

Reviewed by Annie Peters