Cindy Neuschwander

Sir Cumference is a series of entertaining, clever, and imaginative medieval fantasy tales set in a world full of fun geometry-based names and lands. The reader follows the adventure of each book and discovers new math concepts along with the knights and ladies in the stories - and sometimes dragons. I've always loved a good picture book, and I still do - and these books are a wonderful example of a quality picture book. I've enjoyed Sir Cumference immensely in both childhood and show more adulthood.

Each book is engaging and well-written, with endearing and clever characters, exciting adventures, and humor throughout. I laugh at the puns and plays on words and at the hilarious situations the characters often go through. I'm amazed at the loveliness of the illustrations, which - like the text - are colorful, funny, exciting, and imaginative, as well as beautifully painted on actual canvas, with gorgeous lighting and color.

And the math concepts presented in the text are humourously, clearly, and simply explained, while still retaining complex and sophisticated information of basic geometry and sometimes other areas of math. And in the context of a fun story, they're easy to remember and recall. A very young child can understand the explanation of the basic concept, the full explanation can aid the learning of an older student, and teens and adults can enjoy the clever books just as much.

I'm good at math, but it's never come easily to me, as it does for my siblings. I struggle to learn and understand math concepts when I can't understand the why and how behind them. Even as a teen and adult, and as a child, reading Sir Cumference helped give me that brilliant light-bulb moment of finally understanding why the equation to find the circumference or area of a circle is the way it is, and works the way it does. The books break these concepts down and show them in concrete, tangible ways, rather than only abstract, nebulous numbers and equations. This way, it's easy to understand how the equation works to produce the number, instead of being unreachable and impossible to wrap one's mind around. Weaving the math into the context of an imaginative story with relatable characters also helps so much, because that's how my mind and imagination engage best with information. If I get the chance to follow in my parents' steps and homeschool my own kids someday, or even if I don't, I will definitely be using these books to teach my future children, if I have any.

I first read the Sir Cumference series as an elementary school-aged child, and I've loved them ever since. The stories have always made me laugh and captured my imagination. It's been a few years since I've read them, and upon rereading the series, I'm pleased to find that the books are are just as wonderful and quality now that I'm an adult and a writer. I was also overjoyed to recently discover the existence of more Sir Cumference sequels that I'd wished for for many years.

I grew up with the first four SirSir Cumference books, and they're special to me, but I enjoyed a couple of the new ones just as much. The first four books in the series are best read in order, but some of the later books were not published chronologically, and they can be read in any order after the first book. For instance, The Isle of Immeter can be read in any order after the first two books, but it should be read before The Viking's Map, since it introduces a new female protagonist. My favorite books in the series are definitely the ones featuring Sir Cumference's son Radius as the main character - the ones I grew up on, and also the slightly newer books I read more recently that follow both Radius and his female cousin Per of Immeter.

The Sir Cumference books are full of sweet characters, exciting tales, adventure, entertaining humor, learning, and more. All this is contained in a short picture book - no small feat! I highly recommend the Sir Cumference series to people of all ages who enjoy a clever and fun story, especially to teachers and homeschoolers for teaching math in an entertaining and engaging manner. show less

Sir Cumference is a series of entertaining, clever, and imaginative medieval fantasy tales set in a world full of fun geometry-based names and lands. The reader follows the adventure of each book and discovers new math concepts along with the knights and ladies in the stories - and sometimes dragons. I've always loved a good picture book, and I still do - and these books are a wonderful example of a quality picture book. I've enjoyed Sir Cumference immensely in both childhood and show more adulthood.

Each book is engaging and well-written, with endearing and clever characters, exciting adventures, and humor throughout. I laugh at the puns and plays on words and at the hilarious situations the characters often go through. I'm amazed at the loveliness of the illustrations, which - like the text - are colorful, funny, exciting, and imaginative, as well as beautifully painted on actual canvas, with gorgeous lighting and color.

And the math concepts presented in the text are humourously, clearly, and simply explained, while still retaining complex and sophisticated information of basic geometry and sometimes other areas of math. And in the context of a fun story, they're easy to remember and recall. A very young child can understand the explanation of the basic concept, the full explanation can aid the learning of an older student, and teens and adults can enjoy the clever books just as much.

I'm good at math, but it's never come easily to me, as it does for my siblings. I struggle to learn and understand math concepts when I can't understand the why and how behind them. Even as a teen and adult, and as a child, reading Sir Cumference helped give me that brilliant light-bulb moment of finally understanding why the equation to find the circumference or area of a circle is the way it is, and works the way it does. The books break these concepts down and show them in concrete, tangible ways, rather than only abstract, nebulous numbers and equations. This way, it's easy to understand how the equation works to produce the number, instead of being unreachable and impossible to wrap one's mind around. Weaving the math into the context of an imaginative story with relatable characters also helps so much, because that's how my mind and imagination engage best with information. If I get the chance to follow in my parents' steps and homeschool my own kids someday, or even if I don't, I will definitely be using these books to teach my future children, if I have any.

I first read the Sir Cumference series as an elementary school-aged child, and I've loved them ever since. The stories have always made me laugh and captured my imagination. It's been a few years since I've read them, and upon rereading the series, I'm pleased to find that the books are are just as wonderful and quality now that I'm an adult and a writer. I was also overjoyed to recently discover the existence of more Sir Cumference sequels that I'd wished for for many years.

I grew up with the first four SirSir Cumference books, and they're special to me, but I enjoyed a couple of the new ones just as much. The first four books in the series are best read in order, but some of the later books were not published chronologically, and they can be read in any order after the first book. For instance, The Isle of Immeter can be read in any order after the first two books, but it should be read before The Viking's Map, since it introduces a new female protagonist. My favorite books in the series are definitely the ones featuring Sir Cumference's son Radius as the main character - the ones I grew up on, and also the slightly newer books I read more recently that follow both Radius and his female cousin Per of Immeter.

The Sir Cumference books are full of sweet characters, exciting tales, adventure, entertaining humor, learning, and more. All this is contained in a short picture book - no small feat! I highly recommend the Sir Cumference series to people of all ages who enjoy a clever and fun story, especially to teachers and homeschoolers for teaching math in an entertaining and engaging manner.



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I actually understand Pi now better than I ever did. Where was this when I was in school, getting great grades in math without every truly understanding what I was doing...?

Update: My son has been learning about Pi and the formula for finding the circumference of a circle for a few weeks. He failed the whole unit, and I'm glad I remembered this book. We read it together, and he was motivated to experiment with string and measuring tape on various circular objects around the house. He has show more this formula truly understood now instead of memorized, and on several enrichment practice exercises he performed perfectly. He owes it all to this book. show less

What an amazing story! King Arthur and his knights need to talk about how to prevent a war from happening with a foreign army, but with such a long, rectangular table, it's impossible for everyone to hear each other without yelling! So Arthur asks for the help of one of his most trusted knights - Sir Cumference - and of a charming maiden - Lady Di of Ameter - to solve the problem! Throughout the story, the pair go through different solutions, none of which are the best, to find the perfect show more table, until they finally decide on the round table. The characters are all named after math and geometry terms, and they all do something that relates to what their names are!

I loved this book for it's sheer creativity! What a way to make kids remember geometry terms! Give the vocabulary a name and a face, and there ya go! It was fun to read and find out all the different ideas Sir Cumference came up with. It was an amazing story, and definitely one I enjoyed reading.

I would use this in a classroom to help reinforce what had just been taught about geometry and the circumference and diameter of a circle. After all, it's one thing to be taught it in math class and be expected to remember boring terms, but when those terms are applied to a fantastical story, it makes it just that much more interesting! show less