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You can discover the hidden mathematics within stories here. We will connect them to research-based ideas on learning mathematics. This way, when you read the story with children, you will know how to use it to enlighten them.
Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy
Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons
Book link: https://amzn.eu/d/6x2PxuX
Story. The story of Pete and His Four Groovy Buttons follows Pete the Cat through a challenging day as he loses his four beloved buttons, one by one.
STORY OF THE STORY. The story is a great way for children to explore numbers without counting. This skill, called subitizing, helps children quickly recognize how many items are in a group just by looking.
For example, in Pete the Cat’s picture, children can see that Pete has three buttons without needing to count them one by one. Encourage them to recognize this instead of counting.
But in this picture, there are too many buttons to subitize. In this case, children can learn to group smaller sets of buttons and add them together, which builds their understanding.
John the Parrot
The story also helps children see the number 4 as a combination of smaller numbers: first as 3 and 1, then 2 and 2, then 1 and 3, and finally as 0 and 4. This last step can be tricky, so it’s okay to revisit the story as the child grows.
To make it more fun, you can introduce a character, like John the Parrot, who finds the buttons Pete has lost. You can ask questions like, “If John has found three buttons, how many does Pete have left?” This makes learning playful and engaging.
Don’t focus on the subtraction or the minus sign in the book. The answer to "How many buttons are left?" doesn’t have to involve subtraction, and children may not interpret it that way. For example, when "one of the buttons popped off and rolled away," the child might simply recognize that three buttons are left because 3 and 1 make 4. Thinking this way helps children understand the connection between addition and subtraction. In this respect, John the Parrot can be a very helpful character! :)
Avoid overusing the equals sign early on. It’s a tricky concept, and children might misunderstand it if it’s used only as a symbol meaning “give the answer.”
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