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Math Curse (by Jon Scieszka)

common sense media says

Authors show that math doesn't have to be scary.


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this funny book helps lighten math anxiety.

Violence & scariness: Not applicable.
Language: Not applicable.

More on Math Curse

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about the daylong buffeting of the girl's math curse. Have you ever viewed the world as she does?

What's the story?

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?

Is it any good?
 

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. The authors give kids an opportunity to deepen their appreciation of a topic by putting it in perspective and context.

Book themes & details

Book Details
Author: Jon Scieszka
Illustrator: Lane Smith
Publisher: Penguin Group
Publication date: January 1, 1995
Number of pages: 32
Hardcover price: $16.99

This review was written by Peter Lewis
 
 

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Most useful reviews by all members

Oxguy
teen, 15 years old
 
Cursed good Book
Math Curse is superb funny and can be helpful in Math!!!I love Jons other books too!!

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ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child, some content may not be right for some kids
OFF: Not age appropriate for kids this age