Midnight Math - Hardcover

Ledwon, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0823415309 ISBN 13: 9780823415304

Publisher: Holiday House, 2000

Synopsis

When three pets, Chester, Leon, and Maury, refuse to sleep, the children must use their wits to get them to rest, in a colorfully illustrated math book with a collection of subtraction, addition, multiplication, and counting games.

About this title

About the Authors

Peter Ledwon is a contributor for Holiday House Inc. He is the author/illustrator for "Midnight Math", and has worked with Marilyn Mets on many other books as an illustrator. Books such as "Waiting for the Sun", "Mia's Secret", and "In Abby's Hand."

Marilyn Mets is a contributor for Holiday House Inc. She is the illustrator for "Midnight Math", and has worked with Peter Ledwon on many other books as an illustrator. Books such as "Waiting for the Sun", "Mia's Secret", and "In Abby's Hand."

Reviews

Grade 1-3-"Tick, tock./The hands/on the clock/wish they were feet/so they could run,/as Chester, Leon,/and Maury/get ready/for midnight fun." This begins this truly strange picture book. Why does the clock want to run? Readers won't discover the answer to that question but they will be introduced to some number games. A few are self-contained within the book such as "Star Search" (looking at a picture and counting different colored stars) and "Treasure Blast!" (finding a specific number of objects that have fallen out of a treasure box). Others require additional materials, such as a deck of cards, chalk, paper, and dice. "Hot Salsa" involves hiding "6 things-like taco chips" around the house. The selections range from very simple to fairly complicated. Most children will need adult assistance to gather the needed materials and get the activities started. The collage illustrations have a 3-D quality created by a surreal mix of computer-generated pictures, fabric swatches, and dark backgrounds. The suggestions are not breakthroughs in math-related entertainment and the presentation is gimmicky. Sleep may be more important than math at midnight.
Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Only slightly surreal, three mouse-like critters have a good time playing math games while the household sleeps. Chester, Leon, and Maury (dont miss her fuchsia sneakers) count stars (and the points on them) in Star Search, hide snacks (and consume a few) in Hot Salsa and Snack Attack, and use dice and a deck of cards in several other games (Dicey Pairs, Something Fishy, Jacks Back). Each game is simple enough for basic arithmetic skills: addition, subtraction, and multiplication, and the games are mildly amusing. Pictures pack a pow here: neon and acid blues, purples, and reds glow; the layout borrows from comic books; and the type is white-on-dark or black-on-light depending on the background. The illustrations seem to use collage, cutout, and computer-generated effects to make a nicely layered look. There is an Answers page, with further suggestions for math games. (Picture book. 5-7) -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Holiday House
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0823415309
• ISBN 13: 9780823415304
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Mets Marilyn
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32