The Greedy Triangle (Brainy Day Books) [Hardcover]

Marilyn Burns (Author), Gordon Silveria (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Brainy Day Books

In this introduction to polygons, a triangle convinces a shapeshifter to make him a quadrilateral and later a pentagon, but discovers that where angles and sides are concerned, more isn't always better.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author of The I Hate Mathematics Book celebrates geometric shapes in this informative but visually cluttered addition to the Marilyn Burns Brainy Day series. Her main character, a triangle with gleaming black eyes and a perky grin, leads a full life-it can take the shape of a slice of pie or rest in an elbow's angle "when people put their hands on hips." Yet the triangle aspires to greater complexity, so it asks a "shapeshifter" to turn it into a quadrilateral (the shape of a TV or a book's page), then into a pentagon (a house's facade) and so forth. Burns fails to show that the triangle is "greedy"; it's just adventurous. But her story successfully introduces basic polygons, and her afterword to adults suggests ways of teaching children some of the finer points about geometry (e.g., the concept of a plane or rhomboids). For his picture book debut, Silveria chooses tart shades of yellow, orange, lavender and green. His airbrushed colored-pencil compositions have suitably angular details; speckled paint and multicolored doodles soften the effect but create a sense of disorder. If the art as a whole is somewhat jumbled, readers still come away from this volume noticing and naming the shapes of the objects around them. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1?An offbeat introduction to geometry. When a triangle tires of having only three sides, he asks the shapeshifter to change him first into a quadrilateral, then a pentagon, a hexagon, and so forth until he realizes he is happiest as a triangle: he can hold up a roof, be a slice of a pie and, best of all, slip into place when people put their hands on their hips. "That way I always hear the latest news...which I can tell my friends." The text is clever and shows more than the usual places to find shapes?part of a computer screen, a section of a soccer ball, a floor tile. The acrylic and colored-pencil illustrations are colorful, abstract, and filled with smiling shapes done in shades of turquoise, pink, and yellow. A two-page spread of suggestions for adults to reinforce the math lessons featured is included at the end of the book.?Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, NY
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (March 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590489917
• ISBN-13: 978-0590489911
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Repackage Your Thinking, and Shape Up!, March 26, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Greedy Triangle (Brainy Day Books) (Hardcover)

The Greedy Triangle is a most unusual book in that it will appeal to three age groups, 4-5 year olds, those learning polygons for the first time, and for adults who never felt that comfortable with geometry. The book opens up the reader's mind to seeing geometric shapes all around, while providing a simple basis to remember the differences among polygons (they each differ in having one angle and side more or less than the most similar polygon).

"Once there was a triangle that was -- as most triangles are -- always busy." The book points out some of the many frequent places where triangles can be found such as "holding up roofs, supporting bridges, making music, catching the wind for sailboats, being slices of pie . . . and more." "The triangle's favorite thing, however, was to slip into place when people put their hands on their hips." This last refers to the space between the arm and the body. The triangle likes this shape because "that way I always hear the latest news . . . which I can tell my friends." And his friends like that.

But the triangle finds this boring at some point, and seeks the help of a shapeshifter to become a quadrilateral. Ennui recurs and the former triangle moves through a transition successively into a pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, and decagon. For the first few shapes, the book outlines places you find these shapes in nature and human-made objects. A connection is also made as to whether those shapes provide juicy stories to tell friends. There is adult humor, such as noting about not being able to tell secrets learned at the Pentagon.

Eventually, this all becomes self-limiting. "Its sides were so smooth it had trouble keeping its balance." "Its friends couldn't tell which side it was on and began to avoid the shape." The shape fell down a hill. "It felt tired and dizzy, lonely and sad." "I want to be a triangle again." The shapeshifter said, "I'm not surprised."

The book has an excellent guide in the end for parents, teachers, and other adults. This includes great exercises to extend this knowledge for your child. This section also explains the terms more precisely, and defines an undecagon (11 sides) and dodecagon (12 sides).

The illustrations are in bright, electric versions of pastel colors that effectively emphasize simple shapes in their most abstract forms.

I was impressed by the sections that use examples of the shapes. Some of them I had never thought about before. This is a great way to stimulate subconscious learning. I also enjoyed the many "punny" expressions, obviously designed to amuse the adult readers. If you don't like puns, you will probably think the book is a little corny.

The book's only weakness is that the story is too predictable. That limits its appropriateness for older children. They need more complications in their stories. Since the book is aimed 4-8 year olds, it doesn't hurt a bit for the 4-5 year olds but will lose you some 6-8 year olds. This predictability is fine for new geometry students, because getting to read something more interesting than a textbook is a thrill at that point. For permanently polygon-puzzled adults, the book will seem very down-to-earth and accessible.

I also suggest that you ask your child to extend the contents of this book to identify other shapes that are not polygons (such as circles) and specific types of polygons (such as squares, parallelograms, and trapezoids). You can use the exercises in the end of the book towards these shapes, as well.

Reshape your perceptions of polygons!

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Students in my class love this book!, March 26, 2000

By 

Dana H. Pasterjak "Dana" (Palm Coast, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Greedy Triangle (Brainy Day Books) (Hardcover)

I work in an inner city school. Believe me when I say that they are a tough group to please! They were absolutely enthralled with The Greedy Triangle! It opened up discussion in the class more than any other book I have read to them this school year. It is colorful, creative and fun. You can have the students use toothpicks and gummy bears to create the greedy little triangle and then change shapes as it metamorphisizes. Food is a great motivator. A fun way to instill a love of both reading and geometry. When the book is over, the kids can be "greedy" and eat their creations. Trust me, they will never forget the lesson.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for introducing geometry in sixth grade!, May 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Greedy Triangle (Brainy Day Books) (Hardcover)

I've used this book in my sixth grade geometry exploratory class as an introduction to polygons. The students thouroughly enjoyed it, they were able to see how polygons are everywhere in their environment, and later created their own polygon book, using total degree measurement, angles, etc... I highly recommend "The Greedy Triangle" to any teacher who may be teaching about polygons in a geometry unit, it's also a great way of integrating reading into math curriculum.