Arithmetic (another word for
math with numbers) is super
helpful ...
but it's only one part of math."
After trying to convince her readers to embrace bees and spiders, Ms. Barton turns to math. I could have used this book when I was MUCH younger, and think it will be great fun to share in classrooms this fall.
Math is one of those subjects that people tend to like, or not. Those with an early affinity for all things math certainly love it with a passion. Those, like me, who had an early aversion to it may have some difficulty grasping its more difficult elements. The narrator reminds me that I am not alone. In fact, she states that '4 in 10 Americans hate math.'
In a conversation between said narrator and a spaceship-guiding alien, readers are told that all people on Earth understand the same math no matter where they live. The alien explains the scientists sent golden records of life on earth into deep space. This alien found the math golden record, and has learned much from it.
"They sent you math?
No wonder aliens don't come visit!
They should have sent cookies!
What are cookies?
I'll make you some!
They're so much better than math!"
Wait! Doesn't baking involve a lot of math? In fact, math is pretty much everywhere. What about music, exploration, nature, travel, time, and buying groceries? In point of fact, math is a part of our lives even if we don't always acknowledge it. Maybe it's not that bad, after all.
The pen-and-ink illustrations are filled with math symbols and problems, and other entertaining details. Sure to be enjoyed by the target audience, and to bring an awareness of the part math does play in our daily activities.
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