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The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl

The Enormous Crocodile
review by mathsblog.co.uk

The Enormous Crocodile by R Dahl

If you want to introduce your child to some mathematical words involving shape and have enormous fun whilst doing so, then ‘The Enormous Crocodile’ by Roald Dahl is just the book for you. But you do have to have a delicious liking for cruel humour and not mind rather tasteless endings!
Typical of Dahl’s writing, with name calling, suspense and a horribly vile villain, it is probably best left for the over threes. You might find that your children become horribly addicted to the story and want it read to them time and again!
In short, the crocodile tells the other animals that he has some clever tricks up his sleeve to eat some juicy children. Indeed they are clever tricks, but one by one the hippo, monkey etc ensure that his plans are thwarted and the greedy croc comes to a suitable end!
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The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

It teaches about counting, ordering, time and days of the week as well as a little science! Each page is a new day and each day the caterpillar eats one more piece of food

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Picture Puffin)
This is the book which has inspired many young children. An absolute must for children from one upwards, although I am pretty sure that you will have come across it before.Put simply, a story about how a little egg, on a leaf in the moonlight becomes a hungry caterpillar who eats and eats and eats until finally turning into a beautiful butterfly.

Make sure that you get the large size book as the holes in the pages which the caterpillar has eaten through are great for young children to explore.
It teaches about counting, ordering, time and days of the week as well as a little science! Each page is a new day and each day the caterpillar eats one more piece of food.
The BBC has written news stories about this book including that it has been said that one copy a minute has been sold since it was released in 1969.

Ten in the Bed by Penny Dale

Ten in the BedTen in the Bed by Penny Dale

Ten out of Bed by Penny Dale

Well, actually we have two great books to read to your children when they are snuggled up in bed ready to go to sleep. Most of us are aquainted with the nursery rhyme, There were ten in the bed and the little one said, “Roll over, roll over!”
They are about a young child (it could be a boy or a girl as s/he is only referred to as ‘The Little One’) who has ten cuddly animals in bed with him/her. They play games but one at a time the cuddly animals become sleepy and fall out of the bed (great for learning how to count down from 10) until the child is left all alone.
Now these toys are not all goody goodies and there is a lot of action going on in the background, allowing for new stories to be made up every evening. The endings of both books are, of course, happy ones with them all back in bed, fast asleep.

Five Little Ducks by Ian Beck

Five Little Ducks

Five Little Ducks is a story about… yes, you guessed it, five little ducks! They go out one day, waddling down to the pond to play.
But, as they swim and play on the pond, one of them wanders off and disappears, and then another, and another until there is just one little duck left. You are not really sure what has happened to each of the ducks, especially as there is a fox lurking in the background. However, there is a happy ending as Mama Duck finds her missing ducklings snuggled up in the garden shed.
Great story for counting up and down to five, with wonderful illustrations.
Ian Beck was an illustrator for over 20 years (including the artwork for Elton John’s Yellow Brick Road album) and turned to writing children’s stories for his own first child.

There are several other books with the same title, but this is definitely my favourite.

Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne

Handa’s Surprise (Walker paperbacks)

Handa’s Surprise is a great book for young children – one that they really like to have read to them again and again. As well as being a good story it incorporates some strong maths concepts, including counting, sequencing and subtraction.
Set in Africa there is a warm summery glow to the book with bright illustrations and a range of unusual animals and fruits which children may not have come across before.
Handa puts seven exotic fruits into her basket and sets off to take them to her friend. She carries the basket on her head and as she walks along animals steal the fruits one at a time.

This is available as a ‘Big Book’ and with a DVD.

Handa’s Surprise (Walker paperbacks)

The Little Maths Book: an intro to algebra

Beginning algebra can be tricky – and that’s where The Little Maths Book comes in. The idea is to move away from the usual dull, functional explanations and come up with something small and beautiful which is a great introduction to algebra.
Two brothers (a maths tutor and award winning graphic designer) have got together to produce a clever little book concentrating on the fundamental ideas of algebra, but with engaging graphics of birds, balloons, buses etc. It has clever fold out pages which show visually what happens when you balance an equation, almost like a pop-up book.
Aimed at any age, this is a nifty book which makes understanding algebra interesting and fun for both young and old alike. Certainly an excellent introduction for year 7 students.

The Little Algebra Book

Billy’s Beetle by Mike Inkpen

Billy’s Beetle is another of Mike Inkpen’s great books for young children. Little Billy’s beetle escapes from its matchbox leading to a hunt to find the missing beetle. Billy seeks help from a variety of people and animals to try and find it. First of all he gets help from a girl and then a dog. The dog finds a hedgehog, spiders and worms but not his beetle. As the hunt goes on other creatures get involved, including a polar bear and an elephant. Look out for a hidden beetle on each page! Great illustrations and brilliant for reading aloud; you might find that you will have to read it time after time! It also helps with beginning to understand the language of addition and subtraction.

Kipper’s Toybox by Mick Inkpen

Kipper’s Toybox by Mick Inkpen
Kipper’s Toybox (Kipper)

If you are looking for a great book to help with early counting then Kipper’s Toybox is a must.
Kipper is a cheeky little puppy who is concerned that somebody or something is nibbling a hole in his toybox and that his toys might not be safe. But, the trouble is, that every time he counts them he gets a different number. To make it easier to count he lines them up.
Then, one night, one of his toys appears to have come to life!
Colourful illustrations and a great story line makes this a fabulous book for all 3+ children.
It could also be used as the basis of a great counting activity at home. Use a box with 5 toys, count them as you put them in. Take one away, count them again and see if your child can spot which one is missing.

The Essential Arithmetricks: Book review

The Essential Arithmetricks review, murderous maths review

murdererous maths The Essential Arithmetricks (Murderous Maths)

Now, how serious do you like your maths?
‘Not very much!’
OK then the Murderous Maths series might be right up your street.
I have taken my favourite of the series: The Essential Arithmetricks featuring Pongo McWhiffy amongst many others, who guide you through the complexities of arithmetic – including awful addition, sickly subtraction, terrible tables, maddening multiplication and diabolical division. Yes, they do like their alliteration. It also includes all the signs you will need to use and pages on place value, estimation and manipulating equations.
Almost mad, but in fact there are plenty of really useful tips on how to improve mental arithmetic, all set out in a fun way with amusing characters and illustrations. Your children will either love it or hate it!

Written by Kjartan Poskitt.

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Fizz Buzz: Book review

fizzbuzz Fizz Buzz: 101 Spoken Numeracy Games – Ideal for Mental Maths

Now, I am often asked what kinds of activities can parents do with their children at home to encourage mathematical thinking and to speed up knowledge of tables, addition etc. Well this book supplies many of the answers. The key is in the rest of the title: “101 Spoken Numeracy Games.” It covers pretty much everything in calculating and knowledge of number for primary school children and is aimed at mental arithmetic rather than pencil and paper maths. Continue reading “Fizz Buzz: Book review”