Synopsis

Looking for math in action, Marnie’s class visits the Mighty Mart. The superstore is hopping with vexing problems—enough to keep busy shoppers in a math muddle. Fortunately, Math Man (aka as Garth, the stock boy) has plenty of solutions. Count on plenty of laughs in this antic, superhero adventure, bursting with real-life math problems and zany illustrations.

Excerpt

Mrs. Gourd led her class to the superstore tour. “It’s a fine way to see math in action,” she said. Marnie didn’t give a bat’s brain about math in action. It was nearly Halloween, and all she could think of was buying a pumpkin, big and bumpy.

Marnie jingled the loose change waiting in her pocket. She liked the way it sounded.

Reviews and Recognition

CBC/IRA:
Children's Book Council/ International Reading Association,
Children's Choices Selection 2002

Booklist:
Ages 6-8. "Marnie finds herself swept along by the amazing antics of stock-boy Garth, a math whiz who leads the class on a zany tour, solves customers' problems, and calculates the shoppers' orders in his head when the checkout scanners break down. Like many other math picture books, this introduces curricular concepts, but unlike most others, it shoots them off in rapid-fire succession as it gallops along at breakneck speed. Bush's dynamic, line-and-watercolor illustrations add humorous touches while reflecting the good-humored verve of the text." -Carolyn Phelan, ALA

Midwest Book Review, Children's Bookwatch:
"Teri Daniels' Math Man (29308-1,$16.95) features Timothy Bush's whimsical drawings as it tells of a class which visits the Mighty Mart looking for math problems. A healthy dose of math savvy ranges from dividing a watermelon to fit in a fridge to dividing family snacks. The realistic, practical application of math is refreshing."

Kirkus Reviews:
"Math Man's value and appeal lies in his enthusiasm, which Bush (Ferocious Girls, Steamroller Boys, and Other Poems in Between, 2000, etc.) conveys through exuberant, cornball illustrations full of mousy fun."

Children's Literature:
"When Marnie's teacher, Mrs. Gourd, takes the class to the Mighty Mart, she is hoping for some "math in action." Garth the stock boy, also known as Math Man, takes them around the store, giving both the class and other customers lessons in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as they pass through the aisles. The zippy text has fun with the numbers along the way. When the plug is pulled on the price scanner, Garth's math ability saves the day as he clears the checkout lines, and Marnie finally gets to buy the pumpkin she really came for. Bush's cartoon-y watercolor drawings are integrated into the text, sometimes as double-page spreads but most often as vignettes highlighting bits of action. He adds to the fun with a family of mice, unmentioned in the text, which get involved in the math problems as well as the frenetic action. 2001, Orchard Books/Scholastic, $16.95. Ages 4 to 8." -Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

Back to Books