July 2010, Kingfisher
64 pages, Paperback
Review copy
Non-fiction,
Summary from Pan MacMillan
With its lively, creative approach, this is a unique and highly memorable one-stop guide to the building blocks of mathematics. Meet bubbly Zero, who can dissolve you to nothing; all-action Units, who just love to measure; greedy-guts Multiply, a big guy who hoards numbers together; and mysterious Pi, who goes on and on and on... to Infinity! Plus tonnes of practical advice to help every child unravel the rules and regulations of mathematics.
Nayuleska's Thoughts
Having read one of the books by Basher before, I jumped on the chance to check out this book. I'm not good at Maths. I reach for a calculator whenever I can. I love this book because it examines maths terms and concepts in groups, all with funky pictures. The sections are colour coordinated too. The bright colours used on the cover continue throughout the book. The illustrations make it more appealing - when I think about multiplying I have this image of a little green dude with lots of little green dudes below him. The ratio illustration looks like a famous illustration (I can't remember what it is though!).
Most of the concepts are on a spread of two pages. One page has large illustration of the concept. The other has the following format:
- Name of the concept
- Name of the group it belongs to
- 3 facts about it.
- Two paragraphs about what the concept does, and how it works
- A small fact box about who created it, or an example of how to use it, plus sometimes a few bullet points with further details about it.
I think what would be really cool would be workbooks using lots of maths problems and the funky illustrations - that would make maths extremely enjoyable! The poster at the end (which can be taken out, just don't accidentally rip it like I did (I'm not having much success with maps/flaps) accidentally puts the concepts in their groups and lines them up. It's a good revision aid. I wish I had this when I was at school!
Final Conclusion
Invaluable if, like me, you struggle with Maths. Or if you need a small refresher.
Check out more fun books in this series, Chemistry, Punctuation, Rocks and Minerals also by Basher (and various others)
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