Every book adds up

There are some wonderful stories out there, which might just convince your kid that maths is fun.

The Grapes Of Math

I’ve always enjoyed mathematics; so when somebody tells me they don’t like maths, I want to tell them — but you do, you just don’t know it yet!

Which is why, this book I came across recently, made me smile.

In the book I’m Trying to Love Math by Bethany Barton, an alien is trying to convince the narrator why maths is fun. It’s a hilarious book that shows kids the different places and situations in which maths is used in our lives. At the end, the narrator comes to the conclusion that s/he does like maths after all!

This got me thinking about all the other maths books I loved.

The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang, shows kids how to look at a problem in different and unexpected ways, by searching for patterns. I remember my daughter enjoying this immensely when she was little.

I like the Sir Cumference book series, by Cindy Neuschwander and illustrated by Wayne Geehan, in which Sir Cumference, his wife Lady Di of Ameter and their son Radius go on a mathematical adventure and explore a different mathematical concept in each book in a fun, unforgettable way.

What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras? by Julie Ellis and illustrated by Phyllis Hornung, is a gentle story that explains the Pythagoras theorem.

Speaking about angles, I really liked Savio Finds the Right Angle, by Ramya Pai and illustrated by Sunaina Coelho. After I read the book, I found myself looking for right angles everywhere! This book is free to read on StoryWeaver, which has many more mathematics-themed books on curated maths lists for children of different ages.

Blockhead, the Life of Fibonacci by Joseph D’Agnese and illustrated by John O’Brien, explains the Fibonacci numbers as expected, but also tells us a little about how Indo-Arabic numerals came to Europe and much more.

The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos by Deborah Heiligman and illustrated by LeUyen Pham: I read this only recently and it quickly became one of my favourite books, because of the hidden maths in the innovative illustrations, Erdos’ obsessive love for numbers, his eccentricity — it is an easily relatable, yet surprising story — what’s not to love!

12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam, illustrated by Bernie Karlin: With bright pictures, it explores multiple imaginative ways for things (that are often dissimilar) to add up to 11.

Math Curse by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith, made me laugh out loud — the child in the book starts looking at everything as a math problem and is convinced her teacher has put a curse on her.

Mathematwist by T V Padma and illustrated by Proiti Roy, has folktales and popular stories from around the world, each with a mathematical problem. A great book for older children.

I hope this list is useful — for kids who like maths and for kids who don’t yet like maths!

The author got a master’s degree in energy engineering and worked in the IT industry until her daughter dragged out the writer lurking inside her. She has written eight books for children and can be reached at www.shruthi-rao.com

GobbledyBook is a fortnightly column that gives you a peek into the wondrous world of children’s books. Hop on! Or as Alice did, plunge into the rabbit hole.