Mean and Vulgar Bits (Murderous Maths) [Paperback]

Kjartan Poskitt (Author)

Book Description

Series: Murderous Maths

Using a host of hilarious characters, Kjartan Poskitt presents all the tricks, tips and shortcuts to statistics they don't teach at school. Readers will find out how fractions can save them from the toxic mutant fish of Fastbuck, what makes Pongo McWhiffy a mathematical freak, and travel to Planet Mean to discover how averages can be absolutely revolting. Guarantee: this book contains absolutely no sums.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Hippo/Scholastic (January 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439012708
• ISBN-13: 978-0439012706
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,140,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murderous Maths: The Mean and Vulgar Bits, August 30, 2009

By 

K. Cash (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mean and Vulgar Bits (Murderous Maths) (Paperback)

I just ordered this, so I cannot say that we have used this yet in our homeschool. I searched the murderous maths series online, found favorable reviews, but could not "look inside", even at the table of contents. I was very, very curious about this series. I can say that after purchasing one, I will be buying others.
It is incredibly funny. Nothing boring about this book at all. It explains the math, without you really realizing it is a math "lecture". It incorporates outlandish stories, yet you can see the correlation in using math in real life and the importance of knowing your way around math. For example, there is a story about a group of (hilarious) "gangsters" that decorated a rival gangster's (Ma Butcher) apartment and must divide their earnings, with disastrous results. It ends with Ma saying, "Just like I thought! I knew it was worth staying back to watch. Just goes to show, you can't ignore fractions." And so it goes throughout, with stories and humor of all kinds, one right after another(It is not one long continuous story, but rather lots of little stories and quips). It feels very light-hearted (education-wise), but seems to cover everything about its topic. (fractions and averages)
The humor is sometimes intentionally a little "crude", but I saw nothing at all that would be offensive to anyone. (And we are a Christian family.)
There are no problems to work on your own in this book. The math and numbers in it are worked as examples with the explanation as part of the story. It has a really good flow, but does move fast.
I think this book would be helpful to anyone learning or reviewing fractions. Perhaps a very ambitious student could learn directly from this book. However, I think it is better suited to supplement what you have, so your child can practice and see what is explained "in action". However, by no means pass it up just because of this--Math students that struggle with the cold, hard facts of math could really benefit from this breath of fresh air, b/c it is very entertaining and does not feel like a math "text" at all. For this reason, I would like for my son to read it, even though it will be review, because he dislikes math, and he can appreciate the humor, and not feel that it is a math review.
One of my daughters does well with math, however, she becomes bored with math texts. This will also be a review for her, but she had complained she had forgotten a lot of her fraction work. (She uses Key to.. Curriculum, so we have to make our own review). I think this will be a great way to review, instead of "drill and kill" worksheets.
My other daughter can use this alongside her math text, learning fractions from her text, then having a fun day to read. It will reiterate what she learns, so she will be hearing the concepts again, but it won't feel like a review, and certainly not like a dry lecture.
I do think it moves fast if a child was not familiar with fractions at all in the first place, but perhaps some students would not have a problem with that. Having worked with a child that struggles with math, I think he would have needed more instruction than just this book, at least some teacher involvement and problems worked together using the concepts explained.