Zero, Zilch, Nada: Counting to None
By Wendy Ulmer
Sleeping Bear Press, 2010
Grades: K, 1
Synopsis: Harry has the best job in the world - he is working at a balloon factory. On his first day, he has the job of blowing up 100 balloons. As he slides the strings into the holders though, he is not sure if he has 100 so he finds many different ways to count them. As he counts each balloon, he pops it to make sure he doesn't count it again. When Harry finally gets done counting, he realizes he has no balloons left and has counted back to zero!
Jump: Students will love how silly Harry is as he counts out the balloons, and they will realize much sooner than he does the problem he is creating. Because Harry tries to count his balloons in so many ways, this book could be used as an introduction to skip counting by tens, fives, and twos as well as counting backwards. Students can play a game following Harry's rules and stand in a circle. One student starts the game by saying "one" and then the next student says "two", etc. Each time the number ten is said, that student sits down until there is only one "balloon" left standing. The game can also be played counting by tens and the student who says "one hundred" must sit down or with many other counting variations!
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