• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

Discover the many places where mathematical ideas are surprisingly hidden.

Math can show up in the most unlikely places! When the schools in JeremyÕs town ban math, all the kids cheer, all except his friend Sam, a self-proclaimed mathnik, who sets out to prove that math is not only important, but fun. Running parallel to the fictional narrative are informative sidebars that discuss the weird, puzzling, and amusing aspects of mathematics. Some topics covered are math in nature, art, music, magic and tricks, crime solving, and sports.

Artist Lil Crump brings the pages to life with her lively cartoons, while photographs illustrate key concepts. The dynamic layout invites even math-phobic readers to dive in.

Written for 9-12 year olds, this book uses photographs, illustrations, sidebars, biographies of mathematicians, and DIY activities to highlight the surprising ways math is integral to our lives.

Cora Lee is a scientific writer for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry and also coordinates the Vancouver chapter of the Canadian Association for Girls in Science. She lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Cora Lee's profile page

Gillian O'Reilly is a writer and editor from Toronto, ON. She and Cora Lee also co-authored The Great Motion Mission: A Surprising Story of Physics in Everyday Life. She lives in Toronto, ON, Canada.

Gillian O'Reilly's profile page

Artist Lil Crump brings the pages to life with her lively cartoons, while photographs illustrate key concepts. The dynamic layout invites even math-phobic readers to dive in. She lives in Canada.

Lil Crump's profile page

• Joint winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre

“A wonderful read-aloud as part of a STEM focus.”

Professionally Speaking, 12/17

“A great resource to make math more exciting for kids.”

Canadian Children’s Book News, 01/01/17

“Nine-to-13-year-olds will love it.”

DL Online, 04/12/17

“Wonderful.”

CM Reviews, 03/24/17

The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math in Surprising Places

Attention all you math phobes out there! Yes, I mean you! If you are like Mr. Lake, the misguided director of education who is planning to ban math education from school, then this book will be required reading. It is the latest title in the burgeoning field of kidfriendly and teacher-friendly math picture books and fiction. Science writer Cora Lee and our editor, Gillian O’Reilly, have teamed up to produce a lively chapter book that shows how math is an intrinsic part of our everyday lives.

When foolish Mr. Lake decides to eliminate math instruction, Ms Kay, the clever school librarian, suggests that math-whiz student, Sam, and Mr. Lake, have a debate about the usefulness of learning math. With chatty dialogue and appealing characters, the authors show Sam and his pals discussing the geometry of bicycle riding, basketball playing and perspective, the fractions and patterns of music, the Fibonacci patterns in the natural world and lots of other cool math stuff. Interspersed throughout the book are one-page biographical sketches of famous and important mathematicians. The occasional sidebars provide information without interrupting the flow of the text. The pictures, I think, are less successful, attempting to be kind of edgy and cool, but coming off a bit jarring and not always that useful in explaining the text (which is what they should be doing in this kind of book). The illustrator is from Australia; I know that we have people closer to home who would have done a better job.

If you teach math, you should buy this book. Read aloud those sections that apply to your lesson of the day. Read aloud those sections that interest you and see where it takes the class. Give the book to your keen math students and to those not-so-keen students and see where it takes them. Stock up on other math-related story books and start having some fun with numbers. Recommended.

The Great Number Rumble: A Story of Math in Surprising Places

When math is banned from the curriculum, Sam wants the decision reversed. He works to show the fun and importance of math to teachers and students. Contains biographies of mathematicians, illustrations, text boxes, glossary, further reading list and index.