Who Likes Lemonade?

I have seen it done on television and I have heard plenty of stories, but never in my childhood did I operate a lemonade stand. In Who Likes Lemonade? by Karen Mockler, our protagonist Mike McCarthy creates a lemonade stand business of his own.

The story begins by telling us of Mike’s desire to purchase a Super Spy Kit from his friend Derek for twenty-five dollars. In order to do so, he needs to earn that money. His solution to this, a lemonade stand, comes a year after he failed in the same venture. His mom brings this up to him, and Mike replies,

“’The problem,’ Mike said, ‘was that the lemonade was not high quality. This time I’m gonna make artisanal lemonade, from scratch.”

The book’s bold font of the word “artisanal” indicates that it can be found in the glossary and is introduced as new vocabulary for the reader. In addition to introducing new vocabulary, the book exposes the reader to real world math – in this case, math related to financial decision-making.

“Mike did the math. Fake lemonade might go for fifty cents a cup, but real, organic lemonade could go for twice that. He needed twenty-five dollars to buy Derek’s kit. That meant he needed to sell at least twenty-five cups of lemonade.”

Below this paragraph, the following cut-out is displayed:

Not only is the book introducing the student to real-world math problems, but it is encouraging active math problem-solving skills as the reader analyzes the text.

The text goes on to introduce the reader to other business terms, such as “profit margin” and “discount.” With Mike determining the cost to start his business by determining how much product would cost, the book continues to influence the reader to analyze different math concepts.

This book gives us a realistic character with a realistic life situation to expose the reader to real-world math problems and solutions. Reading this story, I can see how it would be effective in a few different areas, including:

-          Calling on critical math skills.

-          Allowing the reader to see how their math lessons relate to the real world.

-          Making math learning more enjoyable.

This isn’t a genre I have put much thought into in the past. If you would have said the words “math book” to me a week ago, I immediately would have thought about a textbook. Now, though, I see how useful books revolving around math concepts can be for a developing reader.