Math Curse

Math Curse

Author/Illustrator: Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Publishing Date:1995

Unpaged

Contemporary realistic fiction

Short Summary:

After the teacher tells the class that they can think of almost everything as a math problem, one student can't coming up math problems for everything.

Author Critique:

The main characters name is not given but we find out that he is pretty good at math and using it in real life circumstances. After being challenged by his teacher to thinking about everything in life as a math problem, he did. He turned his routine in the morning into a math problem, his classmate's birthdays into a math problem, etc.

The setting of the book is anywhere a little kid would normally go. The kid finds math problems at his house, on the bus, and at school. At school he sits in all his different classes, including lunch figuring out math problems he has come up with.

The mood is very positive. The kid can't believe all the problems he can come up with and solve.

The illustrations are nothing special but do carry on the math theme in the book. The illustrations have many geometric shapes in them. With the plain illustrations it allows you to concentrate on the math problems and not on the pictures.

Personal Response:

As a future math teacher I liked to finally read a book that dealt with math. While the book did deal with math there was an underlying story with the kid. I also found myself really figuring out the math problem while I read. As a teacher I plan to keep this book in my classroom so my students can work on improving their math, while also reading at the same time. I would love to include similar books also in my classroom if you have any other in mind.