Common Sense Media Review
Authors show that math doesn't have to be scary.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
The exhilarating and lawless world of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith turns its attention to math anxiety. In short order, they reduce that ancient fear to rubble, allowing readers to see it for the bullying, ridiculous nonsense it is. By extension, the book gives the whole ragged world of dread a salutary thrashing.
Is It Any Good?
This book's authors give kids an opportunity to deepen their appreciation of a topic by putting it in perspective and context.
Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith are high priests in the Church of Nothing Sacred, and they take to their calling with a vengeance. Here it is math anxiety that gets the chop. Their vehicle for its destruction is a riotous obsessive-compulsive response to the "math is everywhere" blather doled out by teachers without any more imagination. The narrator, with a funkster/hipster edginess, is instantly appealing.
The words detonate like explosions -- "On the planet Tetra, kids have only two fingers on each hand. They count 1, 2, 3, 10" -- and Smith's paintings provide an eerie, wired setting that also contains collage pieces and other elements that could have been plucked from a canvas by Vermeer or Miro.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the daylong buffeting of the girl's math curse. Have you ever viewed the world as she does?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Lane Smith
- Genre : Humor
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Penguin Group
- Publication date : January 1, 1995
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 4 - 7
- Number of pages : 32
- Last updated : July 12, 2017
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate