The Grapes of Math: Mind-Stretching Math Riddles

Clear and simple riddles force you to reconsider how you approach a visual counting conundrum. Everything is already arranged into precise columns during math drills in public schools, but this book will show you, groups of objects, in a more haphazard arrangement, just like in real life. Even though I excelled in math, I always had trouble, and the book's lesson or teaching component is its last set of answers. I picked up some pretty useful math application tactics, but more significantly, I discovered that there are other perspectives and methods for solving issues that we "don't have time" to learn in school.

This book provides many scenarios of different topics and includes math problems with each scenario. I rate this book 4 stars because it is very unique. The author incorporates rhymes and math problems on each page which makes the book interactive and fun to read. I like how each problem is solved differently because that teaches kids that there is more than one way to get to an answer. I would definitely use this book in a fifth-grade classroom. Not only are they reading poetry, but they are solving math problems as well.

In my opinion, this is a neat take on a counting book, and I enjoyed reading it. This is an interactive, informational counting book. For example, the author writes, “It’s a picnic!” the ants all scream. How many ants are in the scene? Try to count them, one by one.” The text and the illustrations invite the readers (or listeners) to actively participate in the story, which makes it exceptionally engaging. The language in the book is very simple and the use of rhyming words makes it fun. “Come on, lucky, shiny dice, roll a pair and count it twice. Boxcars, snake eyes, double threes, can you add up all of these? Before you start, please look around, adding’s fast when tens are found.” This quote also demonstrates the show more quality of the information introduced in this book, as it describes how the author introduces readers to the “making ten” addition strategy. The illustrations in the book are digital, and in my opinion, they are very flat. However, there are a lot of bright, primary colors used which is typically attractive to young readers. The big idea of this story is threefold: (1) to introduce readers to early math concepts, (2) to introduce poetry and rhyme, and (3) to offer an interactive perspective of informational math text. show less

The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang is a great book to use as a learning tool in the classroom. Each page contains a different rhyming riddle for students to solve, and the answers are listed in the back of the book. I think this would be a great book for a group of students to read and solve the problems together. It presents math in a light and fun way that would engage students who may not enjoy mathematics as much as others.

This is a good book that encourages children to count without counting by way of rhymes and pictures.This book helps make math fun to do along with reading.

Simple riddles prompt you to look at a visual counting conundrum in a different way. On your public school math drills, you'll see everything grouped into perfect columns already, but this book will show you groups of things in more random formation, like real life. I was stumped EVERY time (and I was an excellent student in math); the answers at the end comprise the lesson/teaching aspect of the book. I learned some really good strategies for practical math applications, but more importantly, I learned that there are different ways of seeing and approaching problems that we "don't have time" to learn in school. I hope my son gets as much out of it as me, and exposing this to him at the right age could be the most important thing I can show more do for his math education! show less

This would be a fun book for a read aloud in a math class. It may be a little young for middle school, but students will enjoy the riddles, rhyming, and problem solving ideas in the book. This book is creatively illustrated and would be a great book to read as the opener for a number talk discussion as it shows alternative ways of counting and adding by grouping. It gets students to think outside the box.