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Learning fractions can be lots more fun for children if there's a fun, imaginative book to help. "My Half Day," written by Doris Fisher and Dani Sneed, is such a book. The clever artwork was done by award-winning illustrator, Karen Lee. The book is intended for young people through third grade.

Children will not only enjoy reading the story but finding fractions and other "oddities" that are hidden in the artwork.

The story begins one morning when a boy looks in his mirror. (Fractions are printed all around the mirror's frame.) Imagine his shock when he finds one half of his hair to be fuzz and the other half still long.

But the boy doesn't have much time to reflect on his hair because Dad is calling his son to breakfast. Dad offers the boy three muffins from a pan that's designed to hold six. The boy has a glass of milk that's two-thirds gooey paste, and there's a lot more on the table.

A chocolate-iced cake with a piece missing, two slices of pizza, measuring spoons, a measuring cup, a half gallon of juice and a ruler all can be used in an interesting discussion of fractions.

But the boy is in a hurry to drink his gooey milk. Dad says the moving van has arrived, and his friend Donna is waiting.

The van, owned by "Two and a Third Guys and a Truck Mover," has three-fourths of a ramp. Today, the van won't be used to move furniture. Instead, it will transport the boy, Donna, and the boy's dog, Princess, to Camp Fraction.

The children, dressed in yellow shirts with "Camp Fraction" on the fronts and "1/2" on the backs "clatter like coconuts" in the van, but finally, they arrive at Camp Fraction.

There are neat things to do at camp, such as archery practice. Targets are painted on cactus. One target is marked into halves; the other is marked into sixths.

Donna and the boy try out the canoe, too, intending to do some fishing. Boy, are there a lot of fractions to talk about in the canoe.

But perhaps the most fun of all is a soccer game. Miss Dodd, the referee, says each goal will count five-eighths. Four-ninths, members of the opposing team, are from out of town - way out of town. They've come to Camp Fraction via space ship. The team members are from Mars!

One great big green creature wears a shirt with 1000/4537 on the front. He wears green shorts and big red tennis shoes. Another team member resembles a big blue bird, and still another looks like a cross between a dinosaur and a domesticated dog.

After the game, both teams sit on three-tenths of a log and roast Mars-mallows and Saturn-s'mores.

There's a big surprise at the end.

"My Half Day" is the third in a series of books. The first two, "One Odd Day" and "My Even Day," won one of "Learning Magazine's" 2008 Teachers Choice Awards for Children's Books.

Sylvan Dell Publishing provides online resources and support for all three books. Children also can find pages of math information and exercises on the last pages of the books.

"My Half Day" (2008) costs $16.95 in hardcover. ISBN 978-1-934359-14-3

Finally, I've had some questions concerning the availability of Queeda Mantle's first and second books.

Besides the Museum of Northwest Colorado, books are available at Downtown Books and the Wyman Museum. The first book also can be found at the Craig branch of Moffat County Libraries.