LEMONADE FOR SALE
by Stuart J. Murphy & illustrated by Tricia Tusa
This lively entry in the MathStart series (see review above) introduces elementary bar graphing, plus some rudiments of marketing, as the members of the Elm Street Kids Club refill their depleted piggybank by opening a lemonade stand. Their graph reflects steadily rising sales—until Thursday, when traffic suddenly slows to a trickle, diverted by Jed, a new juggler working the corner. When the children invite Jed to work next to their stand on Friday, sales rocket off the chart. In vigorously drawn watercolors, Tusa adds loads of funny detail, from the club members' lemon-shaped headgear and assorted customers to the squads of lemons partying across the endpapers. A winning way to make some basic concepts and techniques less intimidating. (Picture book. 6-8)