Anno presents basic mathematical principles in colorful, playful games that challenge children on several levels...He invites kids to consider relationships, make comparisons, analyze the smallest parts of a whole, symbolize and count objects, and measure liquids. Anno looks at the heart of the subject and finds creativity rather than rote learning.

Weird--definitely didn't mesh with my learning/thinking style, and I think that's a problem with me. I'm hoping it will help my son to think "out of the box" a bit. Encourages children to recognize patterns, problem-solve, see things differently, which eventually leads to a lesson on measurement, counting, graphic arts, perspective, etc. but in a very obscure and indirect way... Very unusual, but I think it could really work. ( )

This book is a good book for early elementary math teachers to use when introducing counting and measuring. The author demonstrates math and numbers as a game. To introduce relationships a magic machine is used. Other topics discussed in this book deal with comparisons, how bigger things, like pictures, can be broken down into smaller parts, counting using circles and squares, and measurements using the same units, shapes, and sizes. Before using it in a math class it would be good for the teacher to read the afterword pages because these pages tell how each picture topic is related to math. It is even a good book to use for showing comparisons when solving math word problems to students in grades 4 to 6. The explanation on page 99 of the afterword explains how older elementary students can be introduced to comparisons in these word problems. The author has written many books and won the Hans Christian Anderson Prize for children's book illustration. ( )

FROM BACK OF BOOK:
This is not a mathematic book in its usual sense; it is a book about thinking. It is about perspective, and about abstracting to look at things in a new way.