Games; Measure; Patterns; Shapes

Fashions in teaching mathematics are ever evanescent and many happily numerate grown-ups have trouble understanding how contemporary maths works. So a series subtitled 'help your child have fun with maths' must be looked at. And this quartet does everything to boost adult confidence by putting a parent's charter on every spread - as well as colourful instructions for a range of mathemactivities, we get little boxes of grey matter saying 'here's what you learn'. So not only does it do you good but you know what good it's doing you.

Shapes introduces basic and exotic, regular and irregular shapes in two and three dimensions, Patterns combines shape and rhythm, Measure is about customary and unconventional units of size and their practical application, and Games brings together elements of the other three to emphasise counting and matching.

Presentation is typical Two-Can - bright and unambiguous like Bulloch's text which fits the books to their prime purpose: shareability between parents and not just infants but older children with learning difficulties - all of which looks fun to me.