Math for Smarty Pants

Marilyn Burns demonstrates how everyone is smart in math in someway and, gives them ways to discover what kind of a "math smarty pants" they are. She writes her information in comic book form with characters that represent just about every kind of academic style a child could have. I really think that even a child who hates math could find themselves in this book and realize that they can do math. I also think this book does a good job of explaining how math problems can be solved in different ways.

The comic/cartoon nature of the book can draw in younger readers and even give the older readers a fun way to delve into math. The introduction of the four characters allows readers to be a part of the book rather than just read math information. There is a story created to make it more fun. I would say there is a little too much information compressed into majority of the pages making the read quite difficult because it can be hard to keep focused on the information. The eyes can begin to stray around the page towards everything that is going on.
As a teacher, it can be a fun activity to pick out some interesting sections for students and have them figure it out.

I believe that the goal of this book is to get students interested in math by using fun little tricks and games that deal with math. However, I feel that only people who have a general interest in math would find this interesting. It contains new ways to play tic-tac-toe since, if played right, the game will always end in a tie. It also has random facts, like chummy numbers whose factors add up to the other number. Overall, the content may be almost useless at times, if the goal is to entertain the reader, then they achieved this goal. I certainly enjoyed the tips and tricks that came along with the book.

The table of contents can be a little confusing. They title the activities, which can get a little confusing at points. The pictures show more that accompany the book are really cute and provide a clearer picture of what the author is portraying. The book does not provide an index in the back of the book nor does it provide a dictionary section. Both of these could benefit the book. show less

This book is written in cartoon form. It shows its readers how to learn math concepts by doing different activities. I found some of the activities helpful and informing and some not so informative. Some of the tricks talked about in the book did not seem to teach any math concept at all. The books author is a mathematics educator, but some of the topics discussed in this book are too abstract for students to grasp. If I were to use it I would have to pick and choose the topics depending on how well each is explained.

This is a great math book for young readers. It promotes problem solving and other essential math skills. This book is best used in 2nd or 3rd grade. It will intrigue young readers and hopefully motivate students to learn a bit more about math.

Math explained through comic strips and stories. The text is a little too dense for each page.