Gentle intro to the concept of division with remainders.

Joe wants to march in the bug army but when the army of 25 is divided into two lines, there is a remainder of one. Joe is forced to leave the marching army so that it looks even. He tries a formation of 3 lines and 4 lines. However, there is still a remainder of one. He finally finds that dividing into 5 lines gives and even marching order.
This is a good book for a math classroom library because it explains the concept of remainders. However, it is for a younger reader or classroom. ( )

As the 25th squadron marched past the Queen she was displeased that the lines were not even. This meant that poor Joe was unable to march alongside his troops. As the days went by, Joe tried to make the lines equal. but each time he continued to be a remainder of one. That was until they made five rows of five. I give this book a 5-star review because it is an easy read for your students. This book also introduces the concept of division. ( )

I found this book to be a cute way to give children a visual representation of division . The story follows Joe, a beetle that is a part of a 25 bug squadron. Each day the bugs file into formation to march for the royalty. The first way the bugs split was into 2 lines of 12 --leaving poor Joe out as a remainder of one. On the second day the bugs slip into 3 rows of 8 leaving Joe out once again. This trend persisted until the day the bugs finally split into 5 rows and Joe was no longer a remainder of one. ( )

Cute. The cadence was a bit off, so the rhymes were a bit off-putting. But the point of the story was to realize the math concepts of multiplication and squares, and that to group 25 items in an orderly fashion, 2x12, 3x8, and 4x6 just won't work but that 5x5 will and isn't that nice.... ( )