Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book to get ideas for a math enrichment course for elementary school children. It's full of great ideas! - lots of interesting topics which are accessible to children but which they might not see in school. It's written in a very friendly, non-threatening way - even kids who don't usually like math might be drawn in. The story line about the cat seemed silly to me, but my 5-year old daughter loved it and kept begging me to read more. Most of the math in the book is suitable for age 7-12 or even older.

When I showed this book to my seven-year-old math monster, he wouldn't let me stop reading it. I read most of the book to him over about 3 hours, with discussions and figuring out some of the little puzzles at the end. Then, first thing this morning he stuffed the book back in my hands. I'm sure my voice will feel better tomorrow, and the things I learned will last a lot longer. He wouldn't let me stop reading enough to play the games that used paper and scissors until I had read everything. He's doing them now. Maybe when my throat recovers I'll tell him I also bought another book by this author.

This books introduces math topics that kids dont' usually get exposed to until much later in school. The author opens up the idea that math is more than just math facts. The book is written in an easy-to-read style.

A delightful book that introduces youngsters to mathematical concepts in a fun, painless way. Simple and interesting activities are included after each short story based on an adventure of the author's cat that include the abacus, binary system, fractals, origami, bubbles, triangles and more.

This book is an excellent way for mathphobic adults to explore math with their children and learn right along with them!

This book is a good resource for teachers! It is full of fun, interesting, and relatively simple activities that make abstract mathematical concepts come to life. Math is made less intimidating, because the mystery behind it is revealed by a curious cat with whom children can relate. The book takes mathematical concepts that might otherwise be too complex for children to grasp and simplifies them, making them more "kid friendly." Younger children, who are more likely to enjoy the cat's stories, may not fully appreciate the mathematical content. They will, however, benefit from the books pleasant introduction to mathematical concepts. Similarly, older children, who are more likely to fully appreciate the mathematical content, may not enjoy Penrose as much (or at least they might not admit that they do). However, learning with Penrose will still make the experience less intimidating. The book is clever and a great tool for teaching math, while easing and/or preventing math phobia. I will definitely use this book in my own classroom!

This book is a great resource for teachers! It is full of fun, interesting, and easy activities that really help its abstract mathematical concepts come to life. The book takes concepts that might otherwise be hard to grasp in their complexity and simplifies them, making them more "kid friendly." Learning from and with a cat, who is just as curious as they are, also helps make things less intimidating for children who are slightly math phobic. I will definitely be using this book in my own classroom!

Loved the explanation of binary numbers and the cat concept is cute, but all in all, I am not sure who is the target audience. My eight year old gets easily frustrated, and it is not entirely clear in each story/lesson what the point of the learning is. But since my daughter loves cats, and math, this is a pretty good book for the price.

This book is so much fun. It has mathematical concepts I had never even heard of. For someone who lost their love of math through public school, I thoroughly enjoy reading the fun ideas presented here. It makes higher math skills available to non-math people without being threatening or overwhelming. I love this book.

My son really enjoyed this book for its interesting presentation of math.. he even named a cat puppet after Penrose.

With the Kindle Edition for Mac, you cannot make photo copies of the activity pages as needed. This book works much better as a hardcopy resource. The content of the book is great. It will be wonderful for teaching my children and exposing them to advanced concepts. Again, the 3 star rating is because the kindle for Mac interface is very awkward for this book, and there are parts you just can't use because there is no way get a worksheet.