Customer Reviews

The Greedy Triangle (Brainy Day Books)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

The Greedy triangle is an excellent book for introducing geometry to students in grades 3-5. I use it with my fourth graders and it is a brilliant way to introduce the correct terminology involved in geometry. The story line can also be related to the idea of "the grass isn't always greener on the other side". The triangle goes from shape to shape and then realizes it was much happier as a triangle . I would definitely recommend this book.

As a high school math teacher, I place an emphasis on shape recognition and attributes with my 5 year old. For example, how many sides/angles does a triangle/square/circle(!) have. The Greedy Triangle fits in very nicely with her knowledge level, and she very much enjoyed it from beginning to end. I should note that I edit some of the content to be age appropriate, changing quadrilateral to square, and skipping some of the later, many-sided, polygons. In any case, she laughed her way through the book, which is a great thing for a 5 year old!!

I have been reading this to my classes for the past two years. They absolutely love it. I use it to introduce shapes. The book also teaches a lesson about character. This book is a must have!

This is a great book because even younger kids can understand it and it's great for teaching about polygons. I also think it's funny to see the triangle as a Federal Government building, home plate, and part of a bee hive.
I recommend it to anyone. Older kids might be a bit bored, but I'm 10, and I love it!

Take a journey with Mr. Triangle. My students really related to this story. They enjoyed watching the transformation of Mr. Triangle. They were able to identify more shapes and apply that knowledge to everyday items they see.The story is fun and it is a great tool to supplement any math lesson.

Two-dimensional shapes with human characteristics tell this story. A triangle who enjoys being a musical instrument, and catching the wind for sailboats shares his stories with his friends. Eventually, he began to feel dissatisfied and asked the shape-shifter to give him an extra side and an extra angle. After working for a while as a quadrilateral and sharing his new stories with his friends he once again becomes dissatisfied with his role and returns to the shape-shifter to have more sides added. The reader sees where the shape lives his life with his different amounts of sides and angles. With continued dissatisfaction, he adds sides and angles until he is nearly round and rolls down a hill. This is when he asks the shape-shifter to return to his former self.

Because the back of this book includes tips for teachers and parents to incorporate this book, it can be very useful as an educational tool. Taking a walk and searching for a particular shape in the world, or even spotting several makes students think about how they are seen. One pitfall that should be combated is children's tendency to recognize shapes only when they are in their most familiar form. That is, they should have some practice with flipped, turned and rotated shapes. Asking students to view a shape and then incorporate it into a drawing of a real-world illustration will help them as well.

Why 4 stars?:
Marilyn Burns has changed the way that many teachers approach the subject of math in the elementary school. This book is a wonderful accompaniment to her teaching philosophy and methods. The tips and strategies included at the end for teachers, parents and anyone else who may want to use this book just help to reinforce her teaching. I did have to take a point off for reusing the concept and becoming a little sparse with examples of shapes - the illustrations were also somewhat lacking. But in the end, this is a wonderful addition to the library of anyone who teaches about shapes.

I am an elementary education student at the University of Arizona South and recently read The Greedy Triangle to a group of first graders learning about the basics of geometry. The fact that the book illustrates where geometric shapes can be found in natural and man-made objects helped open the children's eyes to geometry. It also helped that these shapes had feelings, ideas, emotions, likes, and dislikes. It made them more accessible and approachable. As the triangle metamorphosed into a series of increasingly complicated and advanced shapes, the children became fascinated about how very many geometric shapes there are. By the end, when the almost circular shape decides it liked being a triangle most of all and returns to the shape it had originally, it helped to reinforce in the children that each of them is special because of, and for, their unique and individual selves. This book opened a great discussion about what geometric shapes the children saw everyday, and extended into a walk around the school grounds to locate and identify the geometric shapes they could find. This is a wonderful book to use to indroduce geometry to students and to open their minds and eyes to the mathematical world around them!