Can be read on several levels: 1) as a counting book (think of a flannelboard with ten butterflies 2) as a butterfly book 3) using the extra information at the back of the book ( )

Do you like to watch and maybe even catch butterflies? Both Rose, with her Butterfly Field Guide for Young Explorers book, and Ed, with his trusty butterfly net, do, and they decide to go on a butterfly hunt. On the first day, Ed catches ten, but Rose doesn’t have much fun because she catches none. By the sixth day, Rose is feeling a little better because they each find five apiece. On their last day out, poor Ed nets none, but Rose gets ten. They shout, “How many in all? Let’s add them again!” Of course, they always release all their butterflies. Can you figure out how many the two youngsters totaled? And who will win the contest?
The cross-curricular content of this book, with author Barbara Mariconda’s rhyming text and illustrator Sherry Rogers’s colorful pictures, makes it a great learning tool that is also fun to read. Not only are students reminded of the x + y = 10 addition facts, but each opening contains a fascinating sidebar factoid about butterflies. Some of the different kinds of butterflies pictured and discussed include fiery skippers, monarchs, question marks, red-spotted purples, and black swallowtails. The “For Creative Minds” section in the back has two pages related to numbers and patterns, and two pages about butterflies with information about their body parts, a life cycle sequencing activity, and thought questions about how butterflies are alike and different. There are more free activities for parents and teachers online at the publisher’s website. Ten For Me will be a great hit with all butterfly lovers. ( )