Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares (Step-Into-Reading, Step 4)


Frank Murphy - 2001
    A funny, entertaining introduction to Ben Franklin and his many inventions, including the story of how he created the "magic square." A magic square is a box of nine numbers arranged so that any line of three numbers adds up to the same number, including on the diagonal! Teachers and kids will love finding out about this popular teaching tool that is still used in elementary schools today!

You Wouldn't Want to Be an Inca Mummy!: A One-Way Journey You'd Rather Not Make


Colin Hynson - 2007
    Each book uses humorous illustrations to depict the sometimes dark and horrific side of life during important eras in history.

The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics


Norton Juster - 1963
    But the dot, though perfect in every way, only had eyes for a wild and unkempt squiggle. All of the line's romantic dreams were in vain, until he discovered...angles! Now, with newfound self-expression, he can be anything he wants to be--a square, a triangle, a parallelogram....And that's just the beginning!First published in 1963 and made into an Academy Award-winning animated short film, here is a supremely witty love story with a twist that reveals profound truths about relationships--both human and mathematical--sure to tickle lovers of all ages.

If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People


David J. Smith - 2002
    First published to wide acclaim in 2002, this eye-opening book has since become a classic, promoting "world-mindedness" by imagining the world's population -- all 6.8 billion of us -- as a village of just 100 people. Now, If the World Were a Village has been newly revised with updated statistics, several new activities and completely new material on food security, energy and health. By exploring the lives of the 100 villagers, children will discover that life in other nations is often very different from their own. If the World Were a Village is part of CitizenKid: A collection of books that inform children about the world and inspire them to be better global citizens.

If You Decide to Go to the Moon


Faith McNulty - 2005
    A publishing event!"If you decide to go to the moon," writes Faith McNulty, "read this book first. It will tell you how to get there and what to do after you land. The most important part tells you how to get home.Written in the second person, the text allows the reader to participate in every aspect of the journey, from packing ("don't forget your diary and plenty of food") to liftoff (at first you'll feel heavy; don't worry") to traveling through space (where "the moon glows like a pearl in the black, black sky"). The reader lands at the Sea of Tranquility, the site of the first lunar landing.

Infinity and Me


Kate Hosford - 2012
    How many stars were in the sky? A million? A billion? Maybe the number was as big as infinity. I started to feel very, very small. How could I even think about something as big as infinity? Uma can't help feeling small when she peers up at the night sky. She begins to wonder about infinity. Is infinity a number that grows forever? Is it an endless racetrack? Could infinity be in an ice cream cone? Uma soon finds that the ways to think about this big idea may just be . . . infinite.

Multiplying Menace: The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin


Pam Calvert - 2006
    Can Peter unlock the secret of the stick in time to save the kingdom? Whimsical illustrations bring fun to multiplying whole numbers and fractions.

11 Experiments That Failed


Jenny Offill - 2011
    Here are 12 "hypotheses," as well as lists of "what you need," "what to do," and "what happened" that are sure to make young readers laugh out loud as they learn how to conduct science experiments (really!). Jenny Offill and Nancy Carpenter—the ingenious pair that brought you 17 Things I'm Not Allowed to Do Anymore—have outdone themselves in this brilliant and outrageously funny book.

There's No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System


Tish Rabe - 1999
    It’s a reading adventure that’s out of this world!

Fractions in Disguise: A Math Adventure


Edward Einhorn - 2014
    GCF) vows to track it down. Knowing that the villainous Dr. Brok likes to disguise his ill-begotten fractions, GCF invents a Reducer—a tool that strips away the disguise, reducing the fraction and revealing its true form. Equal parts of action and humor add up to a wholly entertaining introduction to simplifying fractions.

What Is the World Made Of?: All About Solids, Liquids, and Gases


Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld - 1998
    It melts into water and then vanishes! The ice cube changes from solid to liquid to gas. . . . Read on to find out more about the three states of matter.

John, Paul, George & Ben


Lane Smith - 2006
    . . John [Hancock], Paul [Revere], George [Washington], and Ben [Franklin]. Oh yes, there was also Tom [Jefferson], but he was annoyingly independent and hardly ever around. These lads were always getting into trouble for one reason or another. In other words, they took a few . . . liberties. And to be honest, they were not always appreciated. Until one day, they all played a part in securing America's freedom."Deftly drawn, witty, and instantly appealing, the illustrations creatively blend period elements such as wood-grain and crackle-glaze texturing, woodcut lines, and formal compositions typical of the era, with gaping mouths and stylized, spiraling eyes typical of modern cartoons," wrote Booklist, and School Library Journal declared, "Exercise your freedom to scoop up this one."

Alfie the Apostrophe


Moira Rose Donohue - 2006
    Can he make it into the punctuation-mark talent show? There's plenty of competition, but it looks as if the director, Bud Asterisk, has mistaken Alfie for a comma. Will all of Alfie's practice pay off? Full color.

12 Ways to Get to 11


Eve Merriam - 1993
    Could that be where eleven went? Eve Merriam and Bernie Karlin take young readers on a counting adventure as they demonstrate twelve witty and imaginative ways to get to eleven.

This Plus That: Life's Little Equations


Amy Krouse Rosenthal - 2011
    This Plus That proves that life's total experience is always greater than the sum of its parts.This book can be used to introduce equations or even some basic life lessons. Its warm and amusing tone invites readers to come up with their own life equations, and it makes a creative gift.