Non-fiction/ Picture Book

Title: The Hershey’s Kiss Addition Book

Author: Jerry Pallotta



About the Author: Back in 1985, Jerry Pallotta (whose full name is Gerard Larry Pallotta) was an insurance salesman, looking for creative ways to teach his children their ABCs. He wondered why most of the alphabet books he was reading to them sounded very similar, “A is for apple,” and “Z is for zebra.” During his childhood he had spent many summers at the beach in Scituate, Massachusetts (a fishing town), which helped nurture his love for the ocean — lobsters, seaweed, and boats were always a part of his life. Was there a way to combine his passion for the underwater world and teach children the alphabet? At the age of 32, his imaginative ideas led to him to write and publish his very first book, The Ocean Alphabet Book. He originally sold 5,000 copies to the New England Aquarium, where it became a best-seller. He has since created more than 20 alphabet books, including: The Airplane Alphabet Book, The Bird Alphabet Book, The Butterfly Alphabet Book, The Flower Alphabet Book, The Furry Animal Alphabet Book, The Icky Bug Alphabet Book, and The Vegetable Alphabet Book — to name a few! Soon Pallotta expanded from just writing alphabet books and tried his hand at mathematics books. Popular favorites include The Crayon Counting Book, The Icky Bug Counting Book, and for those who have a sweet tooth, Hershey's Milk Chocolate Fractions Book, Hershey's Kisses Addition Book, Reeses Pieces: Counting by Fives, and Twizzlers Percentages Book. Pallotta was born on March 26, 1953, in Boston, Massachusetts . He has four brothers, two sisters, and 72 first cousins! He attended Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C. where he majored in business, and met his wife. He currently lives in Massachusetts and is married with four children.
Scholastic

Age Level: 3-6

Synopsis: This is a book that introduces children to the world of basic math. The book illustrates a plus sign, a minus sign, an equal sign, and uses Hershey’s Kisses as a counting unit used throughout the book. In the book clowns carry, drag, throw and juggle Hershey’s Kisses to illustrate each addition equation. The book is mostly single digits, but the book adds single digits to the number ten.

Pre-Reading Activities: The concept of basic addition. What signs do we use in addition? What does “sum” mean? What is the symbol called that is used to add numbers? Discuss with the process of addition with the class.

Post-Reading Activities: What was your favorite part of the story? What is something you learned from the book? What is the difference between adding and subtracting? After the reading, the students will do a math activity in pairs. They will receive a math worksheet. The students will use a math work mat and candy to complete their worksheet with a partner.

My Reflection: I love being able to integrate any type of literature into content areas! I love to use this book when introducing addition. What child doesn’t love Hershey Kisses?! I think this is a great book to allow for the opportunity to use Hershey Kisses as a math manipulative. Students will be engaged in the lesson and will want to work just so they can eat the candy in the end! I think this provides students with a hands-on, interactive, and fun way to learn math just by using this book as the introduction to teaching basic addition. I love that there is also a Hershey Kisses Subtraction book!

Barnes and Noble
Amazon