The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (SIGNED) [Hardcover]

Norton Juster (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Sea Star Books / North-South Books (2001)
• ISBN-10: 1587170663
• ISBN-13: 978-1587170669
• ASIN: B000OJMWSK
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,486,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Norton Juster is an architect and planner, professor emeritus of design at Hampshire College, and the author of a number of highly acclaimed children's books, including The Dot and the Line, which was made into an Academy Award-winning animated film. He has collaborated with Sheldon Harnick on the libretto for an opera based on The Phantom Tollbooth. The musical adaptation, with a score by Arnold Black, premiered in 1995 and will soon be performed in schools and theaters nationwide. An amateur cook and professional eater, Mr. Juster lives with his wife in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful "Punny" Look at Life, Love, Shapes and Math, January 4, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (Hardcover)

Chances are that you know the author, Norman Juster, from his outstanding book, "The Phantom Tollbooth." What many people don't realize is that he created this classic book also in 1968, which was turned into an Academy Award winning short film. This book is a delight at many levels, providing the perfect opportunity for adults and children to read and discuss together. For although this book is indicated for the 4-8 year old group, younger children will love it, too, and the ideas in it are fascinating for adults. So, you should probably think of this as a book for "children of all ages."

You can read this book primarily from several different perspectives. It may be easier for you child if you emphasize one at a time when you introduce the book. First, there's the classic love "triangle" involving a line (a rather straight fellow) who falls for a circle, the circle (who's frivolous despite being perfectly identical in all directions -- "You're the beginning and the end, the hub, the core and the quintessence . . . ."), and a messy squiggle of a line who appeals to the dot (who the dot thinks is "gay and free, so uninhibited and full of joy"). This story line is the easiest for everyone to follow.

Although the line is a rather dependable and likeable sort, he's just not interesting to the circle (". . . and you are as stiff as a stick. Dull. Conventional and repressed. Tied and trammeled. Subdued, smothered and stiffled."). So he goes off to "learn new tricks" and creates the ability to make an infinite number of shapes out of his line. She's impressed, and that wins the fair maiden.

The next level at which people can understand the book is to appreciate that lines can form parts of objects (like a tightrope, a lance, the equator, or a tug of war rope). If you create angles in a line, you can create all sorts of wonderful shapes from a triangle on up to very complex geometric solids. These are described by name, so this is a flying start for geometry and trigonometry later on. If you curve the line, you can create magnificent shapes of soaring grandeur. Here's where the vocabulary goes way beyond what a 4-8 year old can handle. But that's where you can be the intelligent adult who helps out. This interpretation would be wonderful for a classroom discussion also.

The third level of the book relates to the mathematical expressions behind how you turn a line into a curve or create an angle. The book has the illustrations present for this interpretation, but not the discussion. If you understand how these shapes can be described mathematically, you can make that connection for your child. A good resource for this is the Logo program that children of this age can use to draw with a turtle. You could have many happy hours together writing programs to create these shapes. If you don't know Seymour Papert's books on learning (he wrote Logo), you should read "Mindstorms" and "The Children's Machine." "The Dot and the Line" would also make excellent reading in a classroom that is using Logo.

The puns themselves are worth the cost of the book. I won't give you any examples because I don't want to spoil them, but some minor ones do show up in the quotes above. The puns take turns aiming in different directions to expand the perspective the reader has on words as sources of character comments, descriptions about physical characteristics, and plastic qualities.

One of the great sections of the book is where the circle begins to appreciate the differences between purposeful shapes and random ones. "And she suddenly realized that what she thought was freedom and joy was nothing but anarchy and sloth." This is an important section because it releases the concept of mathematics as purposeful freedom to the reader. Anyone who "gets" that message is likely to have a much easier and happier time pursuing mathematics as the delightful mental discipline that it is.

If your child takes to this material, I suggest that you might follow up with some more advanced discussions about math. Either "The Birth of the Algorithm" or "Just Six Numbers" could be read by you and then translated into age-level appropriate examples and discussions to connect math to science. This would be a wonderful gift to give to any child.

Appreciate the potential of pure numbers . . . infinitely!

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "To the VECTOR belong the spoils", October 6, 2000

By 

Bill M. "bill_m1" (MA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (Hardcover)

When I was a boy, I remember seeing an animated cartoon version of this book. I think they occasionally stuck it on after "Tom & Jerry" or "The Pink Panther". A few years ago, I found the book itself in the stores, so I bought it. If you are (like me) a math lover, you'll get the couple of math puns and jabs they use (such as the concluding "moral of the story" that I used for the title of this review, and the book's dedication). But you certainly don't need to be a math enthusiast to enjoy the book. You also don't have to be a little kid; in fact they use several "big words" that might need clarification from us "grown-ups".

You've heard the story before: Quiet, boring ol' Dick is crazy over the beautiful, bubbly Jane. But Jane is going out with Otto (the tough, joke-cracking "party animal" guy). Dick persists, and eventually finds out what it will take to win Jane's heart while maintaining his dignity. Jane dumps obnoxious Otto, wondering what she ever saw in him, and hooks up with Dick. I suppose it's a classic romance archtype (maybe there's a thin line between "archtype" and "cliche", but I digress).

Anyway, Juster beautifully tells this story by casting the three personalities as a simple straight line, a colorful dot, and a loud scribble. Each page has fun artwork to illustrate the story, ranging from geometrically simple to geometrically complex.

It's not a life-changing story, but I find "The Dot and the Line" to be an aesthetically pleasing, short n' sweet book. I'm glad to see it being reprinted.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For all ages..., December 17, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Dot and the Line: Romance in Lower Mathematics (Paperback)

I first read this book about thirty years ago and still chuckle when I page through its plum, black and white illustrations that underline an understated love story. A book for all ages -- the twenties, thirties, and forties. As a teacher I've shared this story with fifth graders, college students in creative writing classes, and foreign students learning the English language. However, I don't keep this 1963 edition around for my students. I keep it for the tongue in cheek wordplay and illustrative battle between the line and the squiggle for the deep affection of the dot. An age-old battle.