Marilyn Burns

I really enjoyed this book for both its surface-level educational value and the way in which it explored more complex themes as a children book. THE GREEDY TRIANGLE tells the story of a triangle wanting to be more, so it visits a shapeless shapeshifter (a quality detail that I absolutely adored) that transformed it into a quadrilateral, then a pentagon, and further on. The story addresses the saying "the grass is greener on the other side", The triangle, after adding another side, would show more eventually still become dissatisfied after a while. The story introduces not only individuality, but also the principal of "less is more". As a triangle, it could be so many things as the shape is very involved in architecture and design. In the end, it is happy to return back to its normal 3-sided shape and is very content with that. show less

This book is about a couple who decides to have a big dinner with many of their friends and family. Throughout the story, the seating arrangements are constantly rearranging, which teaches kids that there is more than one way. I rate this book 4 stars because it is fun and can be turned into an interactive lesson using cutouts. I think this book would be great to read to a class because it lets them know that thinking different is okay and there's more than one way to get to the right answer.

I liked this book for a few reasons. First, I liked the author’s use of the various characters. They were all very realistic, and they behaved like a “regular” family. At the huge family dinner, with all 32 relatives, they were all talking at once, having various side conversations, and almost everyone speaking over each other. Also, there were a few characters that never let anyone else get a word in, and they insisted on being correct all the time. Not only is that behavior to be show more expected at any large family gathering, but it was also comical. Another thing I enjoyed about this book, was the concept behind it. This story was a mathematical story, but in a discrete way. At the end of the book, the reader realizes that the way some of the relatives were moving the tables together was not working because every time they connected two tables together, they lost two potential seats. There were 32 relatives in attendance, therefore 8 individual (not pushed together) tables of four was the solution to the seating problem. I have never read a book that was a “mathematical story” and I thought it was very interesting that this book had a plot, but still taught a math concept. The main message of the story is to always think things through before you do it, so that you don’t have to start over from nothing when you realized you’ve made a mistake. show less

Spaghetti and Meatballs for all is a story about Mr. and Mrs Comfort who decided to host a family reunion for their family. Mr. and Mrs. Comfort were busy preparing for the big feast, they garlic bread, spaghetti, and salad all prepared, but when the tables and Mrs. Comfort even had a seating chart made up so everyone would have a place to sit. As guest began to arrive, everyone started to rearrange the seating chart and Mrs. Comfort didn't see how everyone was going to have a place to sit. show more Once all the tables were divided, everyone had a seat despite the tables not being set up according to Mrs. Comforts seating chart. I think that this is a really great story for students which is why I gave it a five-star review. It is a fun book that you could turn interactive by allowing your students to rearrange their desks or using cut outs to try and figure out what works. It also shows students that it is okay if there is more than one way to solve a problem. show less