Math-terpieces

July 1, 2003
Greg Tang presents the fifth book in the series begun with The Grapes of Math, Math-terpieces, illus. by Greg Paprocki. Under a reproduction of a well-known painting, a rhyming text gives information about the artist and poses a mathematical challenge to group objects in various ways; for example, "April Showers" features a Renoir painting titled The Umbrellas, and asks readers to group different numbers of umbrellas to make nine. An inventive way. Kids can bone up on their addition skills while getting an introduction to art history.

August 1, 2003
Gr 1-5-In his fifth visual math adventure, Tang uses the artwork of 12 famous painters as an aid in developing problem-solving skills through grouping. Each spread features a quality reproduction on the left side. The poem underneath it highlights an item in the picture and presents a math query. For example, on the spread titled "Dancing Shoes," illustrated with Edgar Degas's Ballet Rehearsal on Stage, readers are asked to combine the colorful pictures of varying numbers of ballet shoes on the opposite page into several groups of seven. ("Can you make 7 with these SHOES?/THREE clever ways earn rave reviews!") Clearly written solutions to these exercises are given at the end of the book along with art definitions and brief explanations. This math-concept book is far more appealing than most.-Nancy A. Gifford, Schenectady County Public Library, NY

Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2003
Gr. 2-4. Tang and Paprocki, who also wrote and illustrated " The Best of Times" (2002) and " Math Appeal" (2003), again challenge children to take a playful approach to learning math, using elements from famous paintings by artists such as Matisse, Mondrian, and Warhol. For instance, one double-page spread has a reproduction of Dali's painting " The" " Persistence of Memory" and the verse, "Is it a dream or is it real? / It's hard to know when art's surreal. / Dali's clocks once so precise-- / now they're melting just like ice. / Find SEVEN ways to make an 8 / group the CLOCKS, it's getting late!" Paprocki's more colorful versions of melting clocks are grouped on the facing page, and the groups can be combined in seven different ways that add up to eight clocks. Children drawn to the gamelike element will undoubtedly become more familiar with the paintings, though the main point is combining the sets of objects. This book provides an attractive setting for that activity.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)