Customer Reviews

Brown Paper School book: Math for Smarty Pants

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I received this book as a gift when I was in Grade Three, and fairly bored with school. Just like any child, I was put off by the suggestion I should be reading a 'math book'.

The cartoons got me. Plenty of illustrations and a fun topic kept me through Chapter One. From that time onwards, I have been a Math Smarty Pants. In fact, I wound up a student of a mathematical science at the university level. In large part, I blame this book.

The best reason to buy this book for a child you know: whether they are ahead of the pack, or struggling to stay afloat in mathematics, this book will stimulate interest in mathematics, leading to better grades. It can't help but do so.

I was given this book when I was young, after having read "The I Hate Mathematics Book." I loved them both. Like the previous reviewer, I'm pursuing math at the collegiate level and I have no doubt that this book played a large part. It is filled with examples of math made fun, but don't get the idea that the topics are trivial - the book introduces some very deep concepts in an entertaining and thought-provoking way. I look through the book even today and marvel at the great variety of topics that aroused my interest so many years ago. Buy it for a kid you know, before they get bored with repetitive arithmetic exercises and other pitfalls of elementary school math!

This book has gotten more kids fired up about math than anything I've seen. The engaging format shows kids that math is more than arithmetic - it's fun, it's cool, it's a blast! Even kids who are afraid of math will be hooked! I use it with 3rd and 4th graders who regularly ask their parents to buy it for them. They actually ask for a math book - go figure!

I don't care what anyone else says. This book is great. I'm 10 and I didn't think it was too hard or anything. I think younger kids might be confused, but I LOVE it!

This book contains a number of engaging math and logic problems, something that we do a lot of. Unfortunately, the print is small, the pages are quite crowded and answers are often extremely hard to find, all of which really limits the book's usefulness both in our math program and as a "just for fun" book.

My 10-year-old son is definately a math "smarty pants" and when this book arrived I just left it sitting around to see if he would "discover" it and and boy did he! It's full of fun math games and activities and he dove into it for hours; not bad for a lazy summer day activity. I highly recommend it for your "smarty pants" or even your not-so-smarty-pants if he or she is willing to play in the realm of numbers.

(...) We have a copy of this book at home, and I've purchased this book to give to some of my children's friends and some home-schooling parents I know. I think giving this book to any math phobe, whatever their age, is a great idea. I also highly recommend the "I Hate Math Book", also by Marilyn Burns.

The book is great but it should be rated for 12+ instead of 9-12. The book goes into abstract concepts very hard to understand for a 10 year old. I bought it for my daughter which is the best of her class in math and she was very frustrated with the book. To really appreciate the book you need a very good grasping and confidence with the basic operations, fractions, powers and geometry, that means well beyond the years where your kid is learning those topics.

Finally, someone wrote a great book about math for kids! I just love this book. I have a copy, (or my brother does...) but it's all beat up. I can't wait for a new copy!

I'm biased, since math was always my favorite subject, but this I had this book as a child and was SO happy to find it in print. There are a bunch of fun tricks and puzzles that can be done with mathematics: this book merely points a bunch of them out. It has a fun cast of characters (I wish there were more books about them out there), and is fun to read. Guaranteed to provide you with something you can be a Smarty Pants about. Has a good mix of storytelling, solvable riddles, trivia, mathematics, and fun.