Fun Math (giveaway)

(Does anyone else think that the title of this post is as oxymoronic as I do!?) The truth is - I hate math. Numbers and I are not friends. I cannot remember them and I have a hard time caring what they do. Start spouting off numbers to me, and my brain shuts down. I can't even go there with you. Let's use words when we communicate to one another, ok? That makes much more sense!

My husband, on the other hand, can handle the numbers. Aptly. Any math/number related questions go to daddy. Just leave mommy out of it!

In fact, I dislike match so much that I think it's rather ironic that I'm posting this review and giveaway but a.) I really thought one of these books was ultra, super cute and b.) Jonathan liked them. That explained, I have three math-related books to introduce you two, the first two being from Sleeping Bear Press and the last being from DK Publishing. (Could you find a better pairing than that? I ask you . . .)

My favorite of these three books is Zero, Zilch, Nada : Counting to None and it is a recent Sleeping Bear Press release.



In Zero, Zilch, Nada we learn to count from 1 to 100 (and back down to none) by counting balloons. Now, for a toddler, this book is absolutely perfect. We are given a story to count through and in it we meet Harry the bunny who gets a job at the 4 Color Balloon Factory. His boss is named Mr. Huffy and Mr. Huffy assigns Harry the job of blowing up 100 balloons for Mrs. Doopido's birthday party. (Yes, the name is silly but this works when you are three going on four, trust me!) Written by Wendy Ulmer and illustrated by Laura Knorr, I think this book is cute. We enjoyed counting up and down with Harry and his 100 balloons and I feel that I can heartily recommend this one if you are dealing with the concept of counting by 10's (which we are.)

Next up we have Whole-y Cow: Fractions Are Fun also by Sleeping Bear Press.



It opens as follows:

"One whole cow was calmly eating hay, and decided to act differently on this particular day."

Her friends end up painting her half blue. "What fraction of the cow is blue? What fraction of the cow is white?" One whole cow then wears a red white and blue swimsuit and takes a dive in the local pond. "What fraction of the swimsuit is red?" And so on and so forth.

There are numerous scenarios set up in the form of a story wherein the young reader is prompted to figure out the percentages for each page spread. This one is a really cute idea but then, aren't cute ideas what Sleeping Bear Press does best? (What percentage of Sleeping Bear Books does Carrie truly not like? I mean, seriously.)

The last book is from DK Publishing (another well-known publisher!) and is called Help Your Kids with Math: A visual problem solver for kids and parents and was just released this past summer.



Open the book and you are greeted by pi. (But not the kind I like.) Ok, like I said, this book was one that Jonathan rather liked as it helps to explain mathematical concepts with visual images. I open the book and I just see numbers and, well, I've already told you how I feel about that.

Help Your Kids with Math does cover a rather wide variety of concepts through, from your basic addition to statistics and trigonometry.

Take the subject of Trigonometry for instance and the book contains this information:

1. What is Trigonometry
2. Working with trigonometry
3. Finding missing sides
4. Finding missing angles

The Algebra section contains information on sequences, Quadratic expressions, formulas, linear graphs and the list goes on and on. And there are nice visual explanations for each concept explained.

Given the fact that this book spans the gamut of math subjects, I should think it would be helpful at any age, but perhaps most particularly - at MINE!

If you are having trouble figuring out a way to explain math concepts to your little ones, or need a refresher course yourself (ah hem) then this book might be just the ticket for you!

I'm happy to say that there is a chance for you to win a copy of all of the above three books as both Sleeping Bear Press and DK Publishing have offered up a copy of each to one Reading to Know winner. To win? Leave a comment below. This contest is open to U.S. Residents only and will be open through Thursday, September 30th.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED
congrats to the winner, selected by Random.org - #4 -Marks of Faith!

Also, I'm linking this up to the Fall Festival of Children's Books (and giveaways!) over at 5 Minutes for Books! Be sure to check that out this week!