Review by Booklist Review
Franco, author of Mathematickles! (2003) and other math-inspired poetry and picture books, returns with a collection of mathematical poems, most of them previously unpublished. Divided into broad themes, such as home, school, and "math musing," the playful, rhyming poems vary in rhythm, including one specifically for two voices. They cover a variety of math topics, from time, shapes, and fractions to measurement, tessellations, and palindrome operations ("11 x 11 = 121 / 111 x 111 = 12321 / 1111 x 1111 = 1234321"). While one poem in particular serves as a solvable word problem, many others present opportunities for figuring out math concepts and numeric operations, like the titular "Counting in Dog Years," which involves a child comparing the ages of a grandfather and a dog using multiplication. The illustrations' combination of children, animals, and wacky robotic beings in exaggerated and slightly surreal scenes enhance the lighthearted tone. The final poem, "Math Makes Me Feel Safe," brings young readers back to reality with everyday examples of math and validates the security it brings to many children.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Franco explores the joy of everyday mathematics in 20 rhyming poems sorted into four sections, and including topics such as a "Stinky Scale" rating malodorous scents, the "geometric math-terpiece" that is honeycomb, and numerical palindromes. A child's voice resonates clearly in "Total Time in School," which wails, "That's three months of summer/ but nine months of school!/ It must have been grown-ups/ who made up/ that rule!" "Calling Up Friends to Play" integrates a gentle logic puzzle, and "Math Makes Me Feel Safe" exudes a warm positivity not often attached to the subject matter. Tey's gouache illustrations portray a riot of whimsy in muted tones, depicting children and adults of varied skin tones amid imaginative scenes, including a child floating alongside a straw and paper umbrella in an iced drink. Ages 8--12. (Oct.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--3--A tinge of science fiction colors the everyday life of children in this collection. In these school-themed sections, readers pop into the absurd stories that fill their math word problems with an amusing twist between their verses. The poems cover topics from algebra and geometry to interconnected ideas, such as tessellations and base systems, in a way that builds on familiar concepts while exploring new ideas. There are clever usages of meter and stress that pair very nicely with the counting aesthetic throughout. Filling the space between sections and poems are pops of steampunk and robotic creations that hold everything together. One of the best features of this text is the inclusion of the number robots, as they allow readers space to breathe and think after poems via illustrative breaks; they also weave themselves into the narratives present in some of the poems. This collection is cognizant of the audience's experiences, so there is relatability alongside the witty imagery. VERDICT School librarians looking for STEAM titles that pair silliness with educational topics in the style of Douglas Florian will love this fun, math-themed poetry collection that joins English language arts and mathematics as a dynamic duo.--Lisa Bosarge
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Review by Horn Book Review
Silly humor and punchy payoffs abound in Franco's (Mathematickles!, rev. 7/03) latest math-themed poetry collection. Take, for example, "Mom Time," in which "Hold on a minute, hon" equates to waiting far longer than sixty seconds, which leads to the conclusion: "The next time Mom says, 'Clean your room. / Right now! Your floor's a wreck!'/ I'll answer, 'Sure. No problem, Mom. / I'll do it in a sec.'" That dash of cheeky 'tude is spot-on for the audience, and better yet, they'll never feel like they're stuck staring at a dull textbook. That's thanks, in part, to Tey's whimsical gouache scenes, a mix of everyday kids and unusual creature-contraption hybrids. Added to that are the child-friendly topics, such as pet miceownership gone awry (exponential growth!) and the "exceedingly cruel" unfairness of just three months of summer vacation. Then there's the math content: yes, standard fare like fractions and solid shapes make appearances, but so do multiplying by sevens and number palindromes. Franco ends with "Math Makes Me Feel Safe," a warm-hearted finale that counters mathphobia by centering math's connection to and meaning in daily life: "It's knowing when night falls / and darkens my bedroom, / my pup sleeps just two feet from me. / That watching stars flicker / in the velvety sky / is my glimpse of infinity!" Tanya D. Auger November/December 2022 p.99(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Rollicking verses on "numerous" topics. Returning to the theme of her Mathematickles! (2003), illustrated by Steven Salerno, Franco gathers mostly new ruminations with references to numbers or arithmetical operations. "Do numerals get out of sorts? / Do fractions get along? / Do equal signs complain and gripe / when kids get problems wrong?" Along with universal complaints, such as why 16 dirty socks go into a washing machine but only 12 clean ones come out or why there are "three months of summer / but nine months of school!" ("It must have been grown-ups / who made up / that rule!"), the poet offers a series of numerical palindromes, a phone number guessing game, a two-voice poem for performative sorts, and, to round off the set, a cozy catalog of countable routines: "It's knowing when night falls / and darkens my bedroom, / my pup sleeps just two feet from me. / That watching the stars flicker / in the velvety sky / is my glimpse of infinity!" Tey takes each entry and runs with it, adding comically surreal scenes of appropriately frantic or settled mood, generally featuring a diverse group of children joined by grotesques that look like refugees from Hieronymous Bosch paintings. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Readers can count on plenty of chuckles along with a mild challenge or two. (Poetry/mathematical picture book. 8-11) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
