Math Potatoes

People often ask me, "Why did you start writing books?" The answer is simple. I wanted to make math easier for kids. When I looked around, so many kids were doing math the hard way. They were counting when they could be adding, they were adding when they could be multiplying, and they were memorizing when they could be understanding. No wonder they thought math was hard!

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I believe math can and should be easy. My goal in writing Math Potatoes is to help kids ages 8 to 13 learn a few common sense strategies that make arithmetic faster and easier. In each problem, I intentionally present numbers in deceptive ways, using visual tricks based on color, spacing, and alignment to make less efficient groupings more obvious, and more efficient groupings less obvious. The idea is to challenge kids to combine numbers in smart ways, not just obvious ways.

I focus on three strategies in particular. The first is to make smart sums. Numbers like 10 and 15 are easy to work with, so it helps to look for them whenever possible. The second strategy is to find patterns and symmetries. Repeating groups simplify problems and make them easier to solve. The third strategy is to look for groups of equal size. Equal-sized groups make it possible to multiply instead of add, which is faster and leads to fewer mistakes.

Math Potatoes is the seventh book in a series that includes The Grapes of Math, Math for All Seasons, The Best of Times, Math Appeal, Math-terpieces, and Math Fables. Like the others, it combines math with poems and pictures to communicate in both verbal and visual ways. I hope all my books encourage kids to seek smarter, easier solutions, and I hope Math Potatoes provides healthy food for thought to kids everywhere. Bon appetit!


(Judy Bradbury's new book titled Childrens' Book Corner offers Math Potatoes "read-aloud tips" for grades 5-6)

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