My Granny Went to Market

I bought My Granny Went to the Market: A Round- the- world Counting Rhyme, because my mother in law is an avid folk art collector and I think it will resonate personally with my children after they become familiar with her house -filled to the brim with treasures from around the world. After spending some time with the book, however, I cant get enough of the fanciful, candy colored paintings that depict a grandmother sailing around the world on a magic carpet to collect artwork such as masks and drums from different cultures.

In addition to teaching counting through these collected objects (yet in a pleasantly subtly manner), this book does a great job of teaching cultural awareness. Corr’s images celebrate the diversity of our show more planet’s creative pulse, yet they also show humans as collective makers, which is a spirit I hope to instill in my own children. I think art is one of the best ways to highlight the similarities of humankind and show us all as connected beings, and this seemingly simplistic counting book does exactly that. show less

I think the first aspect that will attract children to "My Granny Went to Market: A Round-the-World Counting Rhyme", are the bright, detailed, folk art style illustrations, that portray the text perfectly. It's also quite an entertaining story about a grandma who travels around the world mostly on a flying carpet and it describes what she purchases along the way. With every place the Grandma visits, she gradually buys more items. Therefore by the end of the book, she has worked through the numbers 1 to 10, with the amount of goods she has bought in each place. "My Granny Went to Market: A Round-the-World Counting Rhyme" is a fantastic educational tool because not only would the reader learn about counting but they would also learn a bit show more about the various cultures the book describes. Due to this reason and for the amount of text it has, it would be suitable for ages of about 3 to 8. As well as this I think children would be enthusiastic about this book because of the fact that it's a rhyme. Therefore they would have a lot of fun reading it aloud. show less

In this charming book, we follow the grandmother of an unnamed narrator as she visits a market to buy a flying carpet. She uses the flying carpet to visit various countries in order to make a variety of other purchases. Each new purchase increases in number of items bought, making the book not only an adventure in shopping but also a tool for learning to count. These purchases are also reflective of the countries visited, giving children a taste of other cultures. The brightly colored illustrations are deceptively simple, full of small details that children will love to point out (bicycles, birds and trains are just a few of the background elements that children will notice). The book ends with Granny passing the flying carpet and her show more other purchases on to her grandchild, who may then benefit from Granny’s trip to the market and go on to explore what else may be found in other countries yet unvisited. While this book does not go so far as to introduce concepts such as using money or bartering to obtain purchases, it is an excellent primer for introducing children to the idea of purchasing goods on a global scale.

I did this review for the Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children. See the full review here: http://www.fas.rutgers.edu/cms/econkids/index.php?option=com_content&task=vi... show less

This book is geared to a much younger audience than the other books I have reviewed, but I love it too much to pass. It tells the story of Granny who travels around the world to pick up different items. Each page containing a different location has pictures of all the popular/well-known items from the area. It would be a great way to introduce diversity or go over geography with younger students.

In my opinion “My Granny went to Market” by Stella Blackstone and Christopher Corr is an interesting book for students to read. The story is interactive and allows students to go on a journey as well as count objects in a market. For example, in Thailand granny gets two cats. Also, the story infuses different languages from countries around the world. In Thailand, it explains that “puyin” means little girl and “puchai” means little boy. This expands student’s knowledge about language and places such as Australia, China, Kenya, and Russia as well as gives them a fun story to read. The big idea of this story is learning about cultures and counting while taking a fun adventure!

Summary: Granny takes her magic carpet around the world to different cultures and peoples. She collects an impressive souvenir collection in the process.

Personal Reaction: This is definitely a book for the younger audience. However, this book teaches counting and has a bunch of rhyming, so it will keep the younger kids engaged the whole time. Its simple and easy to read, I really liked it.

Classroom Extension: I would love to take a field trip to the international fair with my kids and show them all the world has to offer. This book would be a good Segway into that. I believe that broadening the young minds of today will allow for more tolerance later.

Very interesting. I think that there was so much more to talk about on each page than just what was written.