Math is on my mind lately as I wrap up the Parallelogram series. (Yes, Dear Readers, Book 4 is coming! There are just so many words.) I, like my main character Audie in the series, enjoy quantum physics but do not enjoy the math. Or, to put it less charitably, cannot do the math.
But I can’t help wondering if I would have had a completely different attitude toward math in school if I’d had a teacher like this. Or at least seen a demonstration like this. Because there’s no doubt Arthur Benjamin makes math FUN. (Although no matter how fun it is, I still think there’s no way mere mortals could do what he does.)
Enjoy!
Simplify the tough stuff AND make it fun to learn with these four series or books.
Basher Basics and Science, created by Basher, written by Dan Green or Mary Budzik,
Kingfisher, $12.99-14.99 (hardbacks), $7.99-8.99 (paperbacks), ages 9-12, 64 pages. Get the scoop on algebra, grammar and more right from the source in Basher's hip reference series. In every book, terms speak on their own behalf, defining who they are and what they do. Take Function: "I'm an operator, a hustler, and a mathematical string puller. I work the numbers, taking one value and chaining it into another." Each has its own unique way of getting its message across. Listen to Square Root, a self-proclaimed scamp, the mathematical opposite of square. "I swing from my tail over a number to undo a Square's multiplication." Then with every definition comes a playful graphic: a plump, happy figure that acts out what a given term is. For instance, Heart loves a good workout (he pumps nonstop), so he wears a sweat band. He's also at the center of things, so in either hand, he holds arrow flags. One directs blood to the lungs to get more oxygen, the other sends it into the body for cells to lap it up. This is one of those series that can turn things around for a child and make it all make sense. There's even a folded poster in the back cover to pull a subject together. The series is now up to 9 books. Here are the latest:
Grammar:The Bill of Rights, Algebra & Geometry: Anything But Square!, Music: Hit the Right Note, and
Human Body: A Book With Guts. Then check out Basher's website
here for free games.
Feel the Force! (Super Science), written by Tom Adams, illustrations by Thomas Flintham,
Templar, $18.99, ages 7-11, 20 pages.
Released Sept. 13! Kids use forces of their own making to learn about the forces of physics in this wonderful interactive pop-up book. Readers pull, push, flip, turn and lift tabs to learn about air resistance, upthrust, pressure and more, and get to watch 3-D paper models rise off the page as they explore the roles of gravity, shadows and electricity. On a two-page spread about pressure, a mustachioed illusionist rises from the page on a bed on paper nails; then with the pull of a tab, readers re
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what event caused the book fat cat?
Hi, Jackie. There’s a long answer to this, but there’s also a short one: Fat Robin.
I want to know the answer, I enjoyed so much your book that I’m doing a research paper about it and I need to know your inspiration for this book….
That really is my answer! I was overweight in high school and college, and when I saw a photo in National Geographic magazine just like the photo Cat chooses in her science class, I got the idea for the whole book. I ended up doing the entire experiment just like Cat does–giving up caffeine, sugar, meat, dairy, processed foods, all of it–and it changed my life! When I finished the book I went back to caffeine and sugar (because both are necessary for writing books), but left out all the rest. Okay, except for processed foods, because I’m human and live in modern times. Good luck on your research paper!
so you see yourself reflected in the story?
so did you actually got any help or information to make your book possible?
That’s all I can say for right now, Jackie, because I’m working on something big and can’t take any more time, but for more information you can read this interview I did with Meg Cabot:http://www.megcabot.com/2010/02/keeper-shelf-monday-fat-cat-by-robin-brande/. That’s it. Good luck!