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amysutton's review against another edition
4.0
This is a really interesting story about Paul Erdos who grew up loving math and spent his life working with mathematicians. The book is mostly surface information about Paul traveling and meeting with mathematicians, but it'd be a good book to reinforce the excitement of numbers and math.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Another children's picture book biography, this time of someone I know at least somewhat about. Erdos is one of those people who's story was just compelling to me. Sure this book doesn't mention that to have an Erdos number you have to have published a mathematical paper, but still it's cool. This book kind of tells you that you can have a life doing Math if you are compelled to. And you can have a whole life being weird. The afterword was really good. The art was good but had a lot of easter eggs. Just a fun book.
votrikhon's review against another edition
4.0
Great story about Paul Erdos.
The author recommend two others book and 1 web about him.
All whole his life is for doing math. wow. so diligent and focusing.
The author recommend two others book and 1 web about him.
All whole his life is for doing math. wow. so diligent and focusing.
pwbalto's review against another edition
2.0
Oh my word did my children find this book tedious! "They told the whole story in the first ten pages, and it wasn't a very interesting story, and there's still like 20 pages to go!" - pretty close to an exact quote. Extensive - and I mean EXTENSIVE - author and illustrator notes do not contribute positively to the notion that math can be fun and fascinating.
Love the work of Le Uyen Pham, and I've enjoyed other books by Deborah Heiligman, but a picture book biography of a Hungarian mathematician is going to be a tough sell in the first place, and I'm afraid this book doesn't seal the deal.
Love the work of Le Uyen Pham, and I've enjoyed other books by Deborah Heiligman, but a picture book biography of a Hungarian mathematician is going to be a tough sell in the first place, and I'm afraid this book doesn't seal the deal.
misspentdays's review against another edition
The Boy Who Loved Math is an energetic picture book biography for primary grades and tells the story of Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdos. Erdos, who spent his childhood at home with extremely protective parents, spent his adult life travelling the world and doing math.
As a book about a man who dedicated his life to math should, this biography provides an entertaining introduction to several math concepts, including negative numbers and prime numbers. These introductions are brief and add to the story of his life, rather than acting as a side "lesson" to distract from the narrative. Rather than focusing on only one challenge in Erdos's life, the book mentions several challenges he faced as a math obsessed child with over-protective parents, as well as the math problems he enjoyed. Erdos is the perfect example of making what you love work for you, even in the face of obstacles.
This is the perfect way to introduce math lessons to highly verbal students, with an interesting narrative and fun facts sprinkled throughout. On the other hand, visual learners are provided a treat with illustrations which both explain the text and add to it. The book includes explanatory notes at the back of the book for readers who want to know more about the illustrations. Math oriented students may enjoy trying to solve some of the problems mentioned in the story. For example, subdividing a square into unequal smaller squares.
Showcasing clear, interesting text and interesting illustrations, it is no wonder to find The Boy Who Loved Math named to several "Best of" lists, as well as mentions on various awards lists; the Orbis Pictus (Honor), ALA Notable, and the Cybills (Runner Up). The pictures have a slightly retro feel, which works perfectly with the historical setting, while maintaining an appealing style for the young age group.
As a book about a man who dedicated his life to math should, this biography provides an entertaining introduction to several math concepts, including negative numbers and prime numbers. These introductions are brief and add to the story of his life, rather than acting as a side "lesson" to distract from the narrative. Rather than focusing on only one challenge in Erdos's life, the book mentions several challenges he faced as a math obsessed child with over-protective parents, as well as the math problems he enjoyed. Erdos is the perfect example of making what you love work for you, even in the face of obstacles.
This is the perfect way to introduce math lessons to highly verbal students, with an interesting narrative and fun facts sprinkled throughout. On the other hand, visual learners are provided a treat with illustrations which both explain the text and add to it. The book includes explanatory notes at the back of the book for readers who want to know more about the illustrations. Math oriented students may enjoy trying to solve some of the problems mentioned in the story. For example, subdividing a square into unequal smaller squares.
Showcasing clear, interesting text and interesting illustrations, it is no wonder to find The Boy Who Loved Math named to several "Best of" lists, as well as mentions on various awards lists; the Orbis Pictus (Honor), ALA Notable, and the Cybills (Runner Up). The pictures have a slightly retro feel, which works perfectly with the historical setting, while maintaining an appealing style for the young age group.
readingthroughtheages's review against another edition
5.0
What an interesting story about an interesting man. As a reading person myself, it's amazing the pure passion this man had for his subject of interest.
With this new(er) influx of narrative informational texts, it has been fun being introduced to new people and their stories.
I really enjoyed the information in the back from the author and illustrator. The illustrator notes were especially interesting as it gave me details about the illustrations that I definitely would not have picked up on as they were math related!
With this new(er) influx of narrative informational texts, it has been fun being introduced to new people and their stories.
I really enjoyed the information in the back from the author and illustrator. The illustrator notes were especially interesting as it gave me details about the illustrations that I definitely would not have picked up on as they were math related!
heisereads's review against another edition
4.0
An entertaining book about an interesting man. The illustrations have all sorts of hidden math references (that are explained in the illustrators notes at the end).
muddypuddle's review against another edition
5.0
What an incredibly fascinating person. I'm so glad I've found some picture book biographies that lessen my ... dislike ... of nonfiction, and that someone had the insight to write about Paul Erdos. The books and illustrations complement each other in such a way that it seems like one person might have created a book on her own. And Erdos (AIR-dish) was ultra-interesting. Especially to a math lover (me). Prime numbers, the sieve of Eratosthenes, and my new favorite discovery:(Erdos's, actually), that there is always another prime number between a prime number and its double. Fascinating, interesting, and fun! I will definitely be purchasing this book for my classroom to use both with my author studies AND math!
cahamsher's review against another edition
5.0
Genre: Biography
Grade: 3-6
I struggle sometimes to find books that can relate to math. This book is a biography but it has so much math woven into it and all the numbers were colorful which made it fun to read. The illustrator has notes on all of the pages that say what the numbers in each picture actually are. It was fun to look for all the patterns and problems within the pictures. The story itself had a lot of good themes too about generosity, working hard, and friendships.
Grade: 3-6
I struggle sometimes to find books that can relate to math. This book is a biography but it has so much math woven into it and all the numbers were colorful which made it fun to read. The illustrator has notes on all of the pages that say what the numbers in each picture actually are. It was fun to look for all the patterns and problems within the pictures. The story itself had a lot of good themes too about generosity, working hard, and friendships.