Appealing Reviews—Math Appeal Reviewed

Amazon.com
5 Star Rating
"One of my favourite books to read to my students is The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang. And now along with it, is Math Appeal, the sequel. Once again, what I love best about Tang's books is that it provides strategies for students and it shows them that thinking does not need to be linear -- that thinking outside the box shows creativity. Tang shows that there are different methods to an answer and that the thought process is just as important. As a teacher, I'm looking for higher level of thought from my students, for creativity and for them to be able to explain their thinking. Each page in Math Appeal becomes a daily challenge for the students, who in turn eagerly attempt these challenges. We're looking forward to the next book!"
--J. Tam, Ontario, Canada

Barnes & Noble
Recommended
Greg Tang, children's math guru and author of such bestsellers as The Grapes of Math, delivers more "mind-stretching math riddles" to help make arithmetic as easy as "pi." Using his winning method of ultra-creative tips for kids, Tang combines simple clue-giving rhymes with Harry Briggs's eye-catching illustrations to teach how spotting patterns makes adding simple. From "Square Deal," which lets readers quickly add up diagonally arranged squares, to "Rude A-Rake-Ning," helping them count clams by grouping them into patterns, these breezy math lessons are painless and fun. Complete with an introductory note from the author and a detailed answer key in back, Math Appeal has the formula that's sure to have kids -- believe it or not -- charged up to try out their new math skills.

Book-of-the-Month Club
Main Selection

Harvard Book Store
February Select 70
"In this follow-up to Math For All Seasons, Greg Tang underscores the importance of four basic rules in problem-solving. Keeping an open mind, looking for unusual number combinations, using multiple skills (like subtracting to add) and looking for patterns will guarantee any child success in math. In Math Appeal, Tang continues to challenge kids with his innovative approach to math."

Junior Library Guild
Spring 2003 Main Selection

Kirkus Reviews
"Discovering patterns in groups of objects to discover their total number is Tang's forte, and here he is as engaging as ever. Tang makes play out of math and the problem-solving riddles keep math-suspicious minds from wandering and maybe even from clogging."

Midwest Book Review
"Tang has created his own series of colorful picture books that engage the senses, stimulate the imagination and give a fresh perspective when it comes to the way kids perceive math. In Tang's able hands, the old methods of rote memorization are rendered obsolete. He prefers to use poems and pictures to promote creative new approaches, such as thinking out-of-the-box to find strategic sums, using subtraction to add, and simplifying through patterns and symmetries. The bottom line is that he teaches creative thinking, with practical applications that will last a lifetime. Best of all, it works because it's fun."
-- Vicki Arkoff, March 2003 Edition

PBS TeacherSource
Recommended
In this collection, every two-page spread presents a different rhyming riddle and illustration to solve. Use your creative problem solving skills to arrive at an answer. Tang includes a hint for a labor-saving approach in each case. Still stumped? The answers and efficient approaches are included in a closing section.

School Library Journal
"Bright, whimsical illustrations and clever rhymes introduce challenging exercises. The verses are not particularly memorable, but they present the problems-how squares on a kite can be added quickly or peas in a pod grouped-with hints for their solutions. "My kite flies high, my kite flies free,/My kite just landed in a tree!/ I was busy counting squares,/Now my kite is stuck up there./How many squares? Let me see,/It's best to add diagonally!"

Teaching guides appear at the back of the book, and not all of the strategies for problem solving are obvious. In a note, Tang states that his goal is "to encourage clever, creative thinking," and the questions posed do that. This book will engage readers' visual and auditory senses and may be enjoyed one-on-one or in classroom settings.

--Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Washington DC
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.