Max's Math

Starred review from January 12, 2015
Although mathematics is front and center in this follow-up to Max’s Words and Max’s Castle, the clever wordplay of the previous books remains on display as Max and his brothers set off “looking for problems” to solve. Their journey takes them to Shapeville, where Max shows storm-battered residents how to create a new town square from two triangles. From there, they soar to the stars and back, visit Count Town, and witness a rocket launch before heading home to bed (but not before counting sheep, of course). Kulikov’s visual flights of fancy will set readers’ imaginations soaring as Banks slyly introduces a bevy of math concepts. Ages 4–8.

December 15, 2014
Max is back in the fourth in his eponymous series of concept books.Whether he is building a car or riding in one, Max always keeps an eye out for numbers. At first, it's simple adding that catches his fancy (2 wheels + 2 wheels = 4 wheels), but when he takes his car out, he discovers other math concepts when he has to choose to visit Shapeville or Count Town. A left sends him to Shapeville, where all the squares (including the town square) have been swept away by a storm. Max and his friends have a variety of math-y adventures in which they help find a missing zero so a rocket countdown can occur, learn to combine shapes to create new ones, sort socks, connect dots and discover the difference between a 9 and a 6. The quick-moving story is tied together by Max's fascination with numbers and math. Kulikov's rich, textured paintings are filled with details that extend the story and invite young mathematicians to stop and examine Max's fantastic world. Here is a cow covered with numbers instead of spots, and there are fields made of graph paper. Shapeville, with its two-dimensional inhabitants, is especially compelling, and it's easy to imagine youngsters arranging their blocks into new shapes as Max does. Clever teachers will find plenty of curricular connections, too. Inventive. Bold. MAXimum fun! (Picture book. 3-8)

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2014

K-Gr 2-In the fourth story about Max and his two brothers, numbers and shapes take center stage instead of words. Max builds a car and tells his siblings he's off to look for problems, and soon all three are on their way to adventure. The boys prove to be quite helpful as they assist in rebuilding Shapetown after a storm and in locating the lost numbers required for a Count Town rocket launch. Kulikov's illustrations add much to the story and invite counting and simple problem solving while also demonstrating that shapes can be combined or divided to make other shapes. Max's car is pristine white, creating negative space, thus continuing the math theme, and the mayors of both towns resemble Albert Einstein and reflect the towns' names. Shapes and numbers are hidden throughout the brightly colored illustrations, offering seek-and-find games: on a cow, in the configuration of a road, a clockface. In order to get to sleep after his exciting day, Max counts sheep while lying under his patchwork quilt made up of various shapes. Young children will enjoy the familiar characters and the fact that the youngest of the three brothers is again their leader.-Maryann H. Owen, Children's Literature Specialist, Mt. Pleasant, WI

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.