Counting, Measuring, and More: Children’s Books About Math

November 14, 2013July 11, 2014 / Sharon Tyler / 1 Comment

Are you or your child a math whiz, or are you like me and dread the very idea of sitting down and tacking the related homework? Well, here are some books for children that get your youngest children on the right track, and help school age children stave off the fear of math or feed their math love. I have broken down my recommended books into three sections; Preschool and Kindergarten, First through Third Graders, and Above and Beyond.

For Preschool and Kindergarten Aged Children:
1. Help Me Learn Subtraction written by Jean Marzollo, Illustrated by Chad Phillips.

2. Janice VanCleave’s Play and Find Out About Math: Easy Activities for Young Children by Janice Pratt VanCleave.

3. Millions, Billions, and Trillions: Understanding Big Numbers written by David Adler, Illustrated by Edward Miller.

4. Musk Ox Counts written by Erin Cabatingan, Illustrated by Matthew Myers.

5. Tyrannosaurus Math written by Michelle Markel; illustrated by Doug Cushman.

For First through Third Graders:
1. A Dollar, a Penny, How Much and How Many? written by Brian P. Cleary , illustrated by Brian Gable.

2. The Wing Wing Brothers: Math Spectacular! by Ethan Long.

3. Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales by Theoni Pappas.

4. Dazzling Division : Games and Activities that Make Math Easy and Fun by Lynette Long.

5. Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens : A Math Adventure written by Cindy Neuschwander ; illustrated by Wayne Geehan.
But do not stop there, because this is a series, simply look here for more.

Too simple for your math whiz? Then try these math related books that go Above and Beyond.
1. One Minute Mysteries : 65 Short Stories You Solve With Math! by Eric Yoder and Natalie Yoder.

2. Math created by Basher; written by Dan Green.

3. Math Games for Middle School: Challenges and Skill-Builders for Students at Every Level by Mario Salvadori and Joseph P. Wright.

4. Timekeeping: Explore the History and Science of Telling Time with 15 Projects by Linda Formichelli & W. Eric Martin; illustrated by Sam Carbaugh.

5. How Math Works by Carol Vorderman.

Still want more? Then you can also check out: Mummy Math: an Adventure in Geometry by Cindy Neuschwander; illustrated by Bryan Langdo, Measurement Mania: Games and Activities that Make Math Easy and Fun by Lynette Long, Mystery Math: A First Book of Algebra written by David A. Adler ; illustrated by Edward Miller, Math on Call: a Mathematics Handbook by Andrew Kaplan; edited by Carol DeBold, Susan Rogalski, and Pat Boudreau, or Number Sense and Nonsense : Building Math Creativity and Confidence Through Number Play by Claudia Zaslavsky.

Susan reads: The Queen of Katwe

November 12, 2013October 25, 2013 / Susan O. / Leave a comment

Wow – two books on chess in the same year? Odd, yes, but this book fed my brain AND my sense of social welfare at the same time. In The Queen of Katwe, Phiona Mutesi is the poorest of the poor – poorer than the Indian children of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, poor as only the poor of war-torn Uganda can be, yet through her own uneducated analytical mind, she rises above everything as a sort of chess savant, traveling to Siberia to compete on a world level – at the age of 15, a girl who has never even seen a flush toilet, who does not even know when her birthday is.

Much of the book is taken up not with Phiona – how I wish more of the book focused on her, her thoughts, etc. – but with everyone around her, and just how the circumstances formed for her to shoot her star so incredibly high. Throughout, Phiona is a shadowy figure, almost a mentally disabled girl who for a few brief moments is able to see and understand clearly, and then is sent back down to the depths of her dull & hopeless life. Is it crueler to leave her mindless in the mud of the streets or to show her the glory of the rest of the world, and then send her back to nothing? I’m not sure. It’s a real “Flowers for Algernon” conundrum.

And I can’t help but wonder what the author could/did do for some of these people – you see them trying to teach chess with boards missing pieces, so crudely carved you can’t always tell a knight from a rook – did you buy them a few chess sets, when what to us is $10 and to them is a year’s salary? Did you donate so the club could continue to feed the starving children who come there to learn? I myself could not look upon such conditions without trying to help, but the author is silent as to how he himself was moved by the situation. A good book, an incredible story, but I wanted so much more, both for me and for Phiona.

Reading Around the Globe – For Book Clubs

November 5, 2013June 5, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

Do the members of your book club like to travel? Or do they like to “travel” via books? Here are some books that will take them on a trip around the world.

Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man’s Miraculous Survival by Joe Simpson (Biography)

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder (Biography)

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (Non-fiction)

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World’s Most Glorious – and Perplexing – City by David Lebovitz (Non-fiction)

Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler (Non-fiction)

A Beautiful Place to Die: An Emmanuel Cooper Mystery by Mall Nunn (Mystery)

Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo (Fiction)

A Guide to the Birds of East Africaby Nicholas Drayson (Fiction)

Babylon Rollingby Amanda Boyden (Fiction)

The Sound of Waterby Sanjay Bahadur (Fiction)

On Our Shelves: New Children’s Non-Fiction

October 23, 2013October 23, 2013 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

There have been some very interesting additions to our children’s non fiction section in the last few months; from cookbooks to get children more involved in the kitchen to interesting guides to specific areas of science. Here are some of the most intriguing titles that have been added to our children’s non fiction section in recent days.

Extreme Biology, created by Basher and written by Dan Green
This is one of a fantastic new series of non fiction books. This particular title features several bio-buddies who explain a complex area of science, taking your biological knowledge to a whole new level. For more books in the series look here.

Forensics: Uncover the Science and Technology of Crime Scene Investigation by Carla Mooney, illustrated by Samuel Caraugh
Presents an overview of forensic science and crime scene investigation, featuring projects in the areas of documenting a crime scene, identifying fingerprints, analyzing blood spatter, and extracting DNA.

Grandpa’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Cookbook written by Judi Barrett and drawn by Ron Barrett. Kids can learn how to make the food that fell from the sky in Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.

Whales and Dolphins by Anita Ganeri, illustrations by Peter Bull Art Studio
Describes the characteristics and behavior of dolphins and whales; looks at how they eat, live in groups, and raise their young; and explains why some species are now endangered.

ART2-D2’s Guide to Folding and Doodling by Tom Angleberger
To doodle like a Jedi you must learn! With this companion to the blockbuster bestselling Origami Yoda series, beloved author Tom Angleberger—with the help of the kids from McQuarrie Middle School—presents young Padawans with dozens of activities from the Star Wars universe.

Make a Movie! byJim Pipe
Making a film is creative, rewarding… and easier than you think. Why not give it a go? This book gives you all the advice and encouragement you need to take your first steps in the world of cinema.