Summary
Una, Jiro and Spot become problem solvers when they meet a band of jazz musicians who have lost their instruments. They search for a solution and think creatively.
Number focus
Four
Before reading
What happened in the last chapter? Una and Spot stopped to watch a magic show. The Magnificent Magic Marvin, a mole, starred in a show with his ladybird assistant, Spot. The magician was not very nice, so Spot decided to join Una and Jiro. Spot was the third and final character to join the trio of adventurers.
Key themes
Homage to music: The number 4 appears frequently in music so is a feature throughout the story. Many famous bands have 4 members and the story pays tribute to one of the most famous, ‘The Beatles’, who had the nickname ‘The Fab Four.’ Music typically has 4 beats to a bar which is why we conduct music with a ‘1, 2, 3, 4’. Be on the lookout for the number 4 throughout the story, in the strings on a bass guitar, the notes on a sheet of music or the steps in a ‘square’ dance.
North, South, East and West: Una, Jiro and Spot visit a hotel called ‘The Compass Hotel’. Interestingly, a compass has 4 points — North, South, East and West. Students at this age might be more familiar with language such as up, down, left and right. Use these to describe and discuss pages where the adventurers are searching throughout the hotel. Four also appears throughout the natural world including the four seasons, the four elements and the four limbs of many mammals.
Four square: Collections of 4 come in some interesting shapes and arrangements. Keep your eye out for different arrangements of 4 throughout the story. Four forms neat rows such as tallies or a line up of insects. It also stacks well as seen in the arrangements in a dice pattern or the corners of squares. And here is a curious fact: try counting the letters in the word ‘four’ with the students (it is the only number that can do that)!
