• How many would you like?
• I'd like (in order of difficulty):
        7, 15, 23, 134, 60

      Michael created this game before entering kindergarten. His favorite spot at a booth in any diner was one within reach of the juke box. Button pressing was of major importance to this child.

      We'd played COUNTING TILL YOU GET THERE into the hundreds numerous times and played HOW MANY WOULD YOU LIKE? at home with bottle tops, coins and model cars, so, his question, "What number would you like?" seems quite natural.

      I said, "seven, please". He pressed the 7 button on the juke box and a new game was born. Agreed, it seemed very like the old HOW MANY WOULD YOU LIKE. The difference was that now the numeral 7 stood for seven rather than seven representing seven things. This was a major jump in sophistication.

      Examine the board then, if you wish, listen in on how rapidly sophistication is acquired.

      The Child: "What number would you like?"

      The Adult: "5"

      The Child presses the 5 button. "What number would you like?"

      The Adult: "I'd like a six, Jamie."

      The Child presses the 6 button. "What number would you like?"

      The Adult: "I'd like a fifteen."

      The Child thinks for awhile, presses the 1 and then the 5 button and responds with, "What number would you like now?"

      The Adult: "Very good, Jamie! That was a hard one. Would you like a hard one or an easy one?"

      The Child: "A hard one."

      The Adult slowly says, "I'd like a twelve."

      The Child thinks awhile, presses the 1 then the 2 button. "What number would you like?"

      The Adult: "That was great. I'd like a twenty-one, please."

      The Child thinks awhile, then presses the 1 button, then the 2 button. The Child thinks awhile, and presses the LOUD/SOFT button, explaining, "I made a mistake: I have to do this. I have to erase this." The Child presses the 2 then the 1 button. "What number would you like?"

      The Adult: "I'd like a twenty-four, please."

      The Child presses the 2 then the 4 button. "What would you like?"

      The Adult: "I'd like a twenty-seven."

      The Child presses the 2 button then the 7 button and glances at the Adult for instructions.

      The Adult: "I'd like a fifty-three, please".

      The Child presses the 5 then the 3 button. "Now you do it. I'd like a ... seven."

      The Adult presses the 7 button and looks at the Child.

      The Child thinks, "I'd like a ninety-nine!"

      The Adult presses the 9 button twice. "I'd like one hundred."

      The Child thinks; then presses the 1 button then the 0 button twice; smiles to himself, then turns to the Adult.

      The Adult: "That's very, very good. I'd like a four hundred twenty-seven. But, I'll tell you how to do it. First you need a 4."

      The Child presses the 4 button.

      The Adult: "Then you need a twenty-seven."

      The Child presses the 2 then the 7 button and looks at the Adult.

      The Adult: "That's it. That's four hundred twenty-seven. Now I'd like a very hard one. I'd like sixty."

      The Child: "But I don't know that one."

      The Adult: "I told you it was a hard one. You need a six then a zero.".

      The Child: "But I don't understand," pressing the 6 then the 0 button.

      The Adult: "I know. That's O.K. You just need sixty. Not sixty-one, not sixty-two, not sixty-seven. Just sixty. Just press the 6 button then the 0 button."

      The Adult realized the child didn't understand completely. That's fine. Jamie had played COUNT TILL YOU GET THERE so he had a feel for the numbers. He'd seen numbers like 15, 26, 57, and 100 in written form in FORWARD AND BACKWARD, so that he had a feel for what was going on. Jamie knew a bit more after the game then before playing the game and had a good time playing. But he'd reached a limit. That's a good time for the game to end.