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Annika Riz, Math Whiz (Franklin School Friends) (2014) |
 | Claudia Mills |
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Recently I have been looking for math books for my young children when I came across Annika Riz, Math Whiz by Claudia Mills. I checked the archives of your site and it appears that this book is not on... (more) |
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Bees (1848) |
 | Anonymous |
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A simple one-page story written to convey the standard “Argument from Design” championed by William Paley, by articulating how the intricate hives constructed by bees follow mathematical principles,... (more) |
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Black Mask of Al-Jabr (1967) |
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| Vladimir Levshin |
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The 3 friends return to Karlikania. Their friend, the baby zero, is accosted by a mysterious x-shaped stranger, who challenges our heroes to recover his identity. Many adventures unfold, and the... (more) |
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The Boy Who Reversed Himself (1986) |
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| William Sleator |
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[William Sleator's The Boy Who
Reversed Himself is] a book catering to a preteen or early teen
audience about three high school students' adventures in 4-dimensional (and
higher) space. It includes... (more) |
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The Brady Kids (Episode: It's All Greek to Me) (1972) |
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| Marc Richards (screenwriter) / Marc Richards (director) |
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I had completely forgotten that there was a cartoon about the Brady Bunch until I ran across this while searching for mathematical fiction. But, it looks so familiar (the pet pandas, the cheesy animation,... (more) |
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Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (1955) |
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| Jean Lee Latham |
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The life of early American mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch, famous for his work on techniques of navigation, is fictionalized in this novel for young adults. Although the mathematical details are not... (more) |
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The Cat in Numberland (2006) |
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| Ivar Ekeland (author) / John O'Brien (illustrator) |
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This picture book uses the idea of a hotel with infintely many rooms for introducing some advanced concepts about numbers and infinity to children. The hotel, run in the book by "Mr. and Mrs. Hilbert",... (more) |
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Chasing Vermeer (2004) |
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| Blue Balliet |
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A mystery novel for 6th graders. The first of a set of 3 separate “mystery” books in the “Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew“ genre. Two children, Calder and Petra, are neighbors and classmates... (more) |
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The Cinderella Theorem (2014) |
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| Kristee Ravan |
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A very serious, mathematically inclined teenage girl is shocked to learn that her father is not dead as she had previously believed but rather is the ruler of an enchanted kingdom.
The no-nonsense,... (more) |
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The Clueless Girl's Guide to Being a Genius (2011) |
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| Janice Repka |
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An excellent book for 4th — 5th graders but one I would recommend for all teachers and students. Written as an interlaced, first-person account of two young girls — Aphrodite, who is a math... (more) |
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Counting on Frank (1990) |
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| Rod Clement |
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Lots of people seem to really like this
children's picture book about a boy who likes to ask (and answer) questions
like: "How long would it take to fill up the room with water if I left the
bathtub... (more) |
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Cyberchase (2002) |
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| Educational Broadcasting Corporation |
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Three kids go inside "cyberspace" to help the maternal Mother Board
fight the evil Hacker. Each episode, in addition to learning about
computers, the kids have to develop their mathematical skills to... (more) |
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Do the Math #2: The Writing on the Wall (2008) |
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| Wendy Lichtman |
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In this sequel to Do the Math: Secrets, Lies and Algebra, a middle school student who likes to think of things in terms of mathematical notation (for example, calling her friend Miranda "|m|" because she... (more) |
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Do the Math: Secrets, Lies, and Algebra (2007) |
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| Wendy Lichtman |
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A math-loving eighth grader applies mathematical concepts to problems in her social life.
According to the book jacket, the author has a degree in mathematics and writes pieces for many periodicals.... (more) |
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Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959) |
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| Hamilton Luske (director) |
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Disney's Donald Duck takes an adventure to a land where mathematics
"comes alive". (Animated short.)
I used this video in my 6th grade
classroom. The kids enjoyed watching
... (more) |
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The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (1963) |
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| Norton Juster |
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This picture book describes the love story of two geometrical
figures. It was also made into a cartoon by Chuck Jones (available on YouTube).
I have loved this book ever since my wonderful
mathematical... (more) |
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Emmy Noether: The Mother of Modern Algebra (2008) |
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| Margaret B.W. Tent |
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A semi-fictional biography of Emmy Noether written for young adults.
The book has received positive reviews from many mathematicians who hope (as, one supposes, does the author) that young readers will... (more) |
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Evil Genius (2005) |
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| Catherine Jinks |
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I am pleased to report that the titular "evil genius" in this children's novel is not the stereotypical cold mathematician in so many other works of mathematical fiction. In fact, the title character... (more) |
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Fruits of Perseverance (1841) |
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| Anonymous |
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This short story does not have a specific plot which threads in mathematical ideas. It is much more a “Math Sermon”, deployed by a caring mother to instill a value system in her young child.... (more) |
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A Gebra Named Al (1993) |
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| Wendy Isdell |
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In this story, Julie falls asleep on her algebra book after
spending a few frustrating minutes trying to finish her homework. An
imaginary number comes to visit her in her room, and transports her
to... (more) |
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Hannah, Divided (2002) |
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| Adele Griffin |
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The story of a 13 year old girl living in rural Pennsylvania in 1934,
"Hannah" presents us with yet another fictional account of someone who is
not only talented in mathematics but also psychologically... (more) |
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Harvey Plotter and the Circle of Irrationality (2011) |
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| Nathan Carter / Dan Kalman |
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Harvey Plotter, who has a scar shaped like a radical sign on his forehead, must find all of the rational points on the circularum unititatus before the evil Lord Voldemorphism.
The reader follows... (more) |
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The Heroic Adventures of Hercules Amsterdam (2003) |
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| Melissa Glenn Haber |
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The plot focuses on a three inch tall boy who runs away from humans to live with mice, only to discover that the mice are regularly massacred by rats every seven years. The mice, however, cannot anticipate... (more) |
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Jayden's Rescue (2002) |
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| Vladimir Tumanov |
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I am the author of a children's math mystery novel entitled Jayden's
Rescue and
Published by Scholastic Canada. This novel's plot revolves around
mathematical puzzles for the grades 4-6 level. The... (more) |
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Kim Possible (Episode: Mathter and Fervent) (2007) |
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| Jim Peronto (script) |
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This episode of the Disney animated TV series "Kim Possible" is a comic book parody featuring a mathematical villain.
As an English assignment, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable have to write a paper... (more) |
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Lepel (2005) |
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| Willem van de Sande Bakhuyzen (director)/Mieke de Jong (screenplay) |
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In this charming family film from the Netherlands, a boy who believes his name is "Lepel" runs away from the mean button thief who has watched over him since his parents disappeared.
If you have come... (more) |
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A Little Mathematician - Katie (2002) |
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| Tadashi Miura |
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A sweet little book by an author who wanted to be a math teacher and hopes he can "introduce the joy of learning mathematics to every student in this world through this story".
A little girl named Katie... (more) |
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Little Zero the Seafarer [Captain One's frigate] (1968) |
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| Vladimir Levshin |
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[This Russian children's novel] is about the titular character (who
appears in the other books [by Levshin]), sailing from the A bay through
arithmetical, algebraical and geometrical seas, learning... (more) |
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Lost in Lexicon: An Adventure in Words and Numbers (2010) |
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| Pendred Noyce |
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This novel for middle school aged children seems at first rather similar to the Phantom Tollbooth, which was apparently a source of inspiration for its author. The plot is familiar: a boy and girl travel... (more) |
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The Mad Mathematician (from ITV's Junior Maths) (1984) |
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| ITV Schools |
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Each episode of Junior Maths, a British children's TV program that was part of ITV Schools, featured a story about "The Mad Mathematician". For example, in this episode (currently available on YouTube),... (more) |
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Magic Squares (1977) |
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| Paul Calter |
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A very unconventionally written mystery story full of well placed and well-integrated problems in mathematics, which makes this a great book to be included in a course on ‘mathematics in literature'.... (more) |
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The Magic Two-Horn (1949) |
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| Sergey Pavlovich Bobrov |
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I barely know anything about this Russian children's book that takes place in a magical mathematical world. Maxim Arnold mentioned it to me at a conference in Oaxaca and told me only that many mathematicians cite it as a source of their interest in mathematics. If you know any more details, please write to let me know.
(more) |
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Many Moons (1943) |
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| James Thurber |
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In this famous children's tale about a princess who wants the moon, "the
mathematician" is one of three wisemen who shows himself not to be so
wise. (The jester, on the other hand,...)
It was... (more) |
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Math Curse (1995) |
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| Jon Scieszka / Lane Smith (illustrator) |
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In this children's picture book, the main character finds that "anything can be a math problem" when her elementary school teacher puts a math curse on her. For example:
Unfortunately for me, LUNCH... (more) |
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Math Patrol (1977) |
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| TV Ontario |
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"Math Patrol was a 15-minute long educational TV series produced in the late 1970s by TV Ontario about the adventures of a secret agent named "Sydney" who dressed up as a kangaroo with a blue trenchcoat.... (more) |
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Mathmakers (1978) |
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| TV Ontario |
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Canadian television show (circa 1978) about making a television show.
Humorous story lines illustrate mathematical concepts.
"The program was developed and produced by TVOntario in 1978. Each
episode... (more) |
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MathNet (1987) |
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| Childrens Television Workshop |
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A children's TV show in which mysteries are solved using
mathematics. The suspects and victims always ask the investigators
"Are you the police?" To which they reply "No, we're
mathematicians!"... (more) |
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The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl (2018) |
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| Stacy McAnulty |
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A girl who developed "genius level" mathematical abilities after being struck by lightning has a thing or two to learn about life in this novel for young adults.
Lucy Callahan finds that after her... (more) |
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The Mouse and his Child (1967) |
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| Russell Hoban |
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Not really a kids book (too violent and depressing) nor an adult book
(about a toy mouse that goes on an adventure, with illustrations) this
is nonetheless an interesting allegory for those so inclined.... (more) |
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Nena's Math Force (2005) |
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| Susan Jarema |
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This picture book for children, which is available for free online and also in print, tells the story of a girl who is upset when her math teacher requires the class to do arithmetic without a calculator.... (more) |
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New Tales of the
The Absent-Minded Master (1971) |
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| Vladimir Levshin |
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This is the third in the Master of the Absent-Minded Sciences trilogy.
The third book is about the two investigating the stealing of a very
valuable stamp. It ends with the promise of further adventures, but
the author never wrote them.
Levshin's beloved children's books have never been translated into English, but can be read in Russian at lib.rus.ec. (more) |
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Number 9: The Search for the Sigma Code (1998) |
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| Cecil Balmond |
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A young boy learns about mathematics while trying to solve a mathematical puzzle.
"As a teacher and Education Inspector in England I would rate
this book very highly. It is extremely well written... (more) |
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The Number Devil [Der Zahlenteufel] (1997) |
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| Hans Magnus Enzensberger |
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"The title may be translated as The
Counting Devil, or maybe The Number Devil, and it has a subtitle that
translates to 'a pillowbook for everyone
who is afraid of math'. Enzensberger is a respected... (more) |
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Number Stories of Long Ago (1919) |
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| David Eugene Smith |
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A really beautiful, well-crafted book which presents a very wide variety of aspects of the history of number theory through fictional stories from Mesopotamia, Rome, Egypt, China, and many other places,... (more) |
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Odd Squad (2014) |
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| Tim McKeon/ Adam Peltzman |
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A governmental organization run by children investigates "odd" phenomena and solves problems with some math and a lot of computer graphics in this live-action TV show from TVOKids and PBS Kids.
I'm... (more) |
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The Phantom Tollbooth (1961) |
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| Norton Juster / Jules Feiffer (Illustrator) |
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This "Alice in Wonderland"-esque children's book follows our hero,
Milo, to the fantasy world through his toy tollbooth. One of the
lands he visits is very "mathematical". We meet the dodecahedron,... (more) |
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Prince of Mathematics: Carl Friedrich Gauss (2006) |
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| Margaret B.W. Tent |
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A fictionalized account of the life and achievements of one of history's greatest mathematicians, told in a style which is appropriate for children but also maintains the interest of adult readers.
(I'm... (more) |
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Pythagoras Eagle & the Music of the Spheres (2003) |
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| Anne Carse Nolting |
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A very well-written, highly mathematical novel for 5th — 6th graders. Three children — Shawna, Adin and Tavia — are math aficionados and are trying to crack the Beale Ciphers, a set... (more) |
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Rapunzel's Etymology of Zero (2016) |
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| Katie May (Writer) / Seth Podowitz (Director) |
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[This] is a cute concept film which uses the fairy tale setting of Princess Rapunzel to articulate some simple but attractive mathematical concepts. In particular, it has a funny take on a desperate... (more) |
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Recess (Episode: A Genius Among Us) (2000) |
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| Brian Hamill |
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This episode of Disney's Saturday Morning cartoon "Recess" is clearly a parody of the film "Good Will Hunting". I hope this doesn't lower anyone's opinion of me...but I personally liked it better than... (more) |
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Saraswati's Way (1978) |
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| Monika Schroder |
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This is a novel written for very young adults (age 10 or so). Chronicles a mathematically gifted young boy's search for resources and a tutor from whom he can learn more mathematics than his local teachers... (more) |
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The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods (1998) |
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| Ann Cameron |
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(A preteen novel, obscurely set in the 50s, only skimmed by
me. I was attracted by the Moebius strip on the cover of the
Scholastic edition. It was a National Book Award finalist, I
presume... (more) |
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The Shadow Guests (1980) |
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| Joan Aiken |
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After his mother's death, a boy goes to live with his aunt, a
mathematician, in her haunted English house where he meets the ghosts of his ancestors and learns about his family's curse. The mathematician... (more) |
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Sir Cumference and the... (1997) |
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| Cindy Neuschwander |
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These are pun filled picture books. To be honest, they do not appeal to me at all; I would give them low ratings for both literary quality and mathematical content. However, as you can see from the comments... (more) |
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Sophie Simon Solves them All (2010) |
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| Lisa Graff |
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A 100-page novel for 2nd graders about a math genius, Sophie Simon, whose parents are always worried that their daughter is not “well-adjusted”. Sophie, on the other hand, wants to do math... (more) |
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Sophie's Diary (2004) |
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| Dora Musielak |
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Sophie Germain famously studied mathematics at night by candlelight despite her parents' insistence that she give up this unfeminine discipline. She then went on to become one of the great mathematician's... (more) |
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The Square Root of Murder (2002) |
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| Paul Zindel |
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A murder mystery written for a middle school aged audience in which a calculus professor is found pinned to a chalk board by a bolt fired from a crossbow. A formula on the board turns out to be an essential clue (though it involves only elementary arithmetic).
This novel for young readers should not be confused with the adult mystery novel with the same title by Ada Madison.
(more) |
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Sticks (2002) |
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| Joan Bauer |
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Fifth grader Mickey Vernon gets help from his "math whiz" friend in beating a bully at pool in this novel for children. Some reviewers complained that the plot was slow and that the harping on mathematics... (more) |
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Strange Attractors (1990) |
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| William Sleator |
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Time-travel story for young adolescents with a little bit of chaotic
dynamical systems thrown in. The plot follows Max, a high school student
with an interest in math and science, as he becomes involved... (more) |
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A Tangled Tale (1886) |
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| Lewis Carroll |
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A collection of ten mathematical puzzles in story form by the famous author/mathematician Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll).
"The reason I answered 3 for "Mathematical Content" is that all the math... (more) |
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The Thesis of the Absent-Minded Master (1971) |
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| Vladimir Levshin |
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[This is the first book in the] trilogy called "The
Master of the Absent-Minded Sciences". The heroes of the other books
(and the author) establish a club, where they analyze the notes (and,
later,letters)... (more) |
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Thomas Gray: Philosopher Cat (1988) |
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| Philip J. Davis |
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As the jacket
blurb explains, the book is "a philosophical fireside tale wrapped lightly
around a mathematical problem, revealing scholarly life and attitudes at a
well-known English college. It... (more) |
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Three Days in Karlikania (1964) |
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| Vladimir Levshin |
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A children's fantasy novel written in Russian. I have not been able to find much about it but Rob Milson says:
Three children travel to Karlikania, an enchanted land populated by numerals. Here they... (more) |
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Train Brains / The Runaway Train (Donald Duck) (1956) |
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| Carl Barks |
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Donald Duck's nephews -- Huey, Dewey and Louie -- are trying to earn a merit badge in engineering for the Junior Woodchucks by working out a complicated problem involving toy trains.
"We'll never be... (more) |
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The Travel Notes of the Absent-Minded Master (1971) |
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| Vladimir Levshin |
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This is the second in the Master of the Absent-Minded Sciences trilogy.
The second book is the Master sending letters about his and Little
One's adventures to the Club for continuing analysis.
Levshin's beloved children's books have never been translated into English, but can be read in Russian at lib.rus.ec. (more) |
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The Unknowns: A Mystery (2009) |
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| Benedict Carey |
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A novel for middle school children which aims to teach mathematical concepts as the young protagonists try to solve the mystery of the disappearances in their neighborhood.
I thoroughly enjoyed the... (more) |
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The Wright 3 (2006) |
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| Blue Balliet |
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This is the second mystery book with Calder, Petra and Tommy, where the events take place after those in “Chasing Vermeer”. The main theme in the book is the impending destruction / tear-down... (more) |
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A Wrinkle in Time (1962) |
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| Madeleine L'Engle |
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In this classic children's adventure story,
"time travel is explained as a tesseract, a five dimensional figure. By
traveling along the tesseract, one bypasses the space in between."
Usually,... (more) |
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The Young Philosopher - A Sketch For Parents (1852) |
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| Sylvanus Cobb, Jr.. |
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Another short story which highlights the prejudices the society had toward the measure of “intelligence” and the inability to recognize the large range of human abilities at a young age, where the... (more) |
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