Mathematickles!

by Betsy Franco, Steven Salerno (Illustrator)

Overview

Follow a girl and her cat as they walk through the seasons, and note the mathematical concepts illustrated around them.

This unique collection of math-poems addresses the principles of addition, subtraction, division, simple graphs, and more!

Look around and jump into the world of Mathematickles!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416918615
Publisher:	Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date:	06/20/2006
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	165,107
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	5 - 10 Years

About the Author

Betsy Franco is the author of numerous books for children, including Counting Our Way to the 100th Day! and Mathematickles!, both illustrated by Steven Salerno; and Birdsongs, illustrated by Steve Jenkins. She and her husband live in Palo Alto, California. They have three sons — two actors and a sculptor. Visit Betsy's website at www.betsyfranco.com.

Steven Salerno lives in New York City, where he is an illustrator for magazines and advertising as well as children's books, including The Dirty Little Boy by Margaret Wise Brown.

Editorial Reviews

The author mixes math and language as she frolics through the four seasons. "Franco plus Salerno add up to plenty of fun in this nimble brain teaser," according to PW's starred review. Ages 5-10. (July) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

This innovative volume of poetry seeks to fuse math and language in a unique and fun way. The poems are necessarily short but make the reader think of things in new and unusual ways. For example: "ice puddle + snow boot = creakgroanCRACK!" Every reader will know that sensation of walking on a splintering crust of ice. Thinking of it in mathematical terms twists it in such a way that it becomes interesting in a whole other way. This would be a great book for teachers trying to get children to look at words in a different way. One more: "maple leaves + puddle = crimson ships." Salerno's illustrations help the reader begin to visualize how a fallen leaf on a puddle is very much like a crimson ship. This is a whole new way of looking at poetry. 2003, McElderry Books, Ages 7 to 10.
— Joan Kindig, Ph.D.

Children's Literature

Gr 2-5-These cleverly conceived and lively little poems teasingly blend words with mathematical concepts and symbols. Imaginative double-page, watercolor-and-gouache illustrations rev up the fun, season by season. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Franco adds to her mathematical oeuvre with this clever collection of poems written in the form of equations and grouped by seasonal themes. The first, for example, is vertical-like addition. "Crisp air / shadows tall / cat's thick coat / signs of fall." Another has few words ("orchard, baskets, ripeapples"), but it is presented as a division problem and reads "orchard divided by baskets = ripeapples." Salerno's illustrations, rendered in watercolor and gouache, with bright colors and broad, grainy brush strokes, have a nostalgic feel. In one full-bleed spread, green and yellow frogs leap from forest-green lily pads with pink and yellow water lilies. Raindrops streak the page, making circular splats in the blue pond. Except for the use of mathematical symbols and forms, this really has nothing to do with math; there are no problems to solve. Without some mathematical knowledge, however, the poems lose meaning. By incorporating the language of mathematics, Franco pushes readers to view the poems through a different lens-and with a more critical eye. (author's note) (Poetry. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews