I LOVED this explanation of prime numbers (in this case 13, the unlucky number). I loved that they played with the superstition of the unlucky 13, explaining that it's indivisible due to the superstition. It's very clever that they threw in, "That's odd" to describe the thirteenth bean, as thirteen is an odd number. I loved everything about this book, I think it was wonderfully thought it and we'll put together. ( )

Ralph and Flora are picking beans for dinner and Flora picks a thirteenth bean, even though it's unlucky. No matter how many times they split the pile and how many friends they invite, that bean is still there. They don't ever know who ate bean thirteen. ( )

Matthew McEllicott explores division in a creative way throughout this book. He writes about two characters, who look like grasshoppers, named Flora and Ralph. They are out picking beans, and pick thirteen total. When they get home they are in a panic because they cannot split the beans into equal groups of anything. They try groups of two, three, and so on. Neither Flora or Ralph want to eat the thirteenth bean because they believe it is unlucky, but eventually their problem is solved. I think this book would be a helpful way to introduce the topic of division because it is written in a way that even young children can understand. ( )

A wonderful story to reinforce the concept of division. My second graders enjoy the bickering back and forth between siblings Ralph and Flora as they try to figure out a way to share the thirteen beans equally, first among themselves and then with some friends they invite for dinner. Equally fun is the extension exercise where we take our own beans and practice dividing them among different numbers of friends. ( )

Two bugs, Ralph and flora, try to divide thirteen beans so that the unlucky thirteenth bean disappears, but they soon discover that the mat is not so easy. ( )