Background

"I was inspired to begin writing by a basket of dominoes. One day while tutoring math in my daughter's first grade class, I noticed that every dot on the dominoes we were playing with had a pencil mark, which meant kids were counting them one at a time instead of adding them up quickly. It immediately struck me that working with patterns of dots would be a great visual way to teach arithmetic and an effective way to teach problem solving.

"My challenge was to figure out how to make this idea fun and instructive. Instead of dots, I thought about things kids would like - acorns, snowflakes, bugs and sea shells. I began designing problems, and by giving some thought to the arrangement, color and spacing of the objects I was able to add a little twist to each one.  My goal was for kids to be able to work on their computational skills and at the same time become better problem solvers. I wanted them to see firsthand how far a little common sense and clever thinking went.

"I'm working on a series of books that I hope will give kids a better understanding of math, from counting all the way through calculus. I really enjoy writing these books because they combine my love of math, words, games, graphic design and teaching, and hope kids and adults have as much fun reading my books as I have creating them. My first book The Grapes of Math was published in 2001, and since then I have written Math For All Seasons, The Best of Times, Math Appeal, Math-terpieces, Math Fables, Math Potatoes, and most recently, Math Fables Too."

Greg Tang grew up with his two sisters in Ithaca, N.Y., where his father taught electrical engineering at Cornell University and his mother taught mathematics at Ithaca College. Greg earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in Economics from Harvard, and later earned an M.A. degree in Math Education from New York University. He is certified as a middle school and high school math teacher.

Greg began his business career at Pfizer in New York City. He worked in both their Systems Department and Strategic Planning Group, and served as the speech writer for the CEO. In 1989, Greg founded Technovations Inc, a multimedia and systems design company with offices in New York City and Boston, and in 1995 he created TopPresenter^TM, a leading software product for the real estate industry. In 1997, Greg moved to Boston where he opened a Tae Kwon-Do school and operated the health club Fitness First in Arlington.

Today, Greg is working to develop a more intuitive approach to teaching math, one that combines problem-solving and arithmetic and integrates math with language and art. In addition to working on his picture books, Greg is also an author for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's new basal textbook program. He wrote their Go Fast Go Far mental math series and is creating a line of teaching materials that includes flash cards, math games, and workbooks. His math game NUMSKILL Jr has been an instant hit with teachers and students, and his GREATxTIMES multiplication flash cards have been widely praised by both teachers and parents alike. Greg's supplemental materials will soon be available on this web site, as well as through Houghton Mifflin Harcourt later this year.

Greg loves spending time in Harvard Square with his three kids, and enjoys writing and running in Maine with his new, old dog Melody. Click here to download an article about Greg in the January '06 edition of Teaching K-8.