Jeff and Jenny argue over everything, and Jill can't stand it anymore. In their new house, all three siblings must master the concept of area to find who'll have the bigger room.

• Jill hears her siblings Jeff and Jenny argue daily about whose items are better. The siblings are moving and have to figure out whose room is the best. The siblings use paper to determine the area of their windows to determine who has the bigger window. In the end, although they have the same about of pages to cover the window, they see that the shapes are the same size, even with lengths and widths varying.

I used this read aloud to incorporate a lesson on area. It was a fun read and really helped to enforce what area is. Kids related well and wanted to do activities that the children did in the story to find the area of the classroom.

Bigger, Better, Best is a short fictional story about two siblings, Jeff and Jenny, who were always competing to see who had bigger or better things (such as backpacks, bedrooms or books) and their sister Jill, who could not stand their constant bickering. One day Jeff and Jenny's parents announce that the family will be moving to a new house where they will have their own room - but the competition does not cease. With the help of their parents Jeff and Jenny go about measuring different parts of their new rooms with pieces of loose leaf - their windows and the bedroom floor - and quickly discover who really has the "best room" in the house.

This book is ideal for students in grades 1st-3rd. The main mathematical concept discussed is the concept of area. While area may be a confusing concept for some students to understand this book presents it in an authentic way for students to clearly grasp. Instead of explaining that the area of a rectangle is length times width it shows students how they can go about measuring area (placing pieces of rectangular paper). Because it does not provide the formula I would suggest using this book to introduce students to the idea of "area" so they can become familiar with it before they begin to work with the formula. Jill, Jenny and Jeff are all between 6-9 years old which would allow students to relate closely to the storyline. It uses visual representations (the use of paper to measure) so students can see exactly how area can be found and can be accompanied by manipulatives (students could use paper in their own lives to measure areas of different places in the classroom, such as the classroom rug). The need to find the area, so Jenny and Jeff can determine who has the best room, is also an authentic situation in which many students may find useful in their own lives. Also, the last two pages offer additional mathematical suggestions for both parents and students to expand their experience with the concept of area along with a list of books that also explore this concept! ( )

This book is about two siblings, Jeff and Jenny. Their family is moving to a new house which gives Jeff and Jenny something new to argue about. Now, they are fighting about who gets the larger bedroom. So when the family moves into the big house, all the siblings must understand the concept of area to find out who has the bigger room. ( )