100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days, written by Bruce Goldstone. Henry Holt, H B Fenn, 2010.$19.99 ages 4 and up

"Print 100 fingerprints.
You can turn them into
bugs, birds and other
animals.

Roll a die 100 times.
Predict what number
you will roll most often.
How many times will
you roll it?"


Proof positive that the 100 Day Celebration does not need to be limited to the early years classroom! I love this book! When I was teaching grade two at Green Acres, the kids and I would try to devise 100 cards with 100 things to do on them. That was a great way to get the kids involved in the day itself, and led to more counting than anyone would ever have thought possible for seven-year-olds. Oh, we had a great time!

This book takes me right back to those times but astounds me with the many ideas that I doubt we ever considered. I like the design...from the bright, bold colors of the title page which uses colored pencils, pipe cleaners and the very familiar magnetic alphabet letters to the opening image where readers are encouraged to get ready to celebrate. Behind the bubble invitation are all of the numbers from one to one hundred, spelled out and following one after the other. He starts with the #1 task....'wake up in the morning and brush your teeth with 100 strokes.' Now that is getting the celebrants in the mood!

He illustrates with a half-circle double row of identical toothbrushes. On the other side of that page, he suggests a bedtime ritual...brushing hair 100 times. Yep, the other half of the circle, two identical arcs of small hairbrushes. Brilliant! Each task is numbered and suggests a new way to get to 100. It is a visual delight and very inventive. At the bottom of each page is a number line from 1 to 100, and it 'bumps' up the numbers being counted. Outstanding!

We used many of the same ideas; but, this author makes them real with bright, clear photographs. He helps young (and older) mathematicians see fun in numbers, counting, grouping and estimating. He has his readers moving, planting, painting, eating, recycling, searching, cutting, writing, reading, measuring. Will it ever end? The fun, not likely. The counting...yes! at 100. Then go on and do it over again with something else.

Just when you think that he's run out of ideas...Bruce Goldstone adds a final page of notes that might prove very helpful in making your family or school celebration rich and authentic, and in getting the juices flowing to see if you can think of even MORE ways to count to ONE HUNDRED!