Math+Curse

Rebecca Jennings Math Curse Written by Jon Scieszka Illustrated by Lane Smith __Biographical Data:__
 * Publisher:** Viking, a division of Penguin Books
 * ISBN:** 0670861944

__Author Biography:__ Jon Scieszka was born in Flint, Michigan. He went to Albion College where he received a bachelor's degree in writing and then went on to Columbia University to get his Master's degree in fine arts. Prior to writing children's books he was an eighth grade teacher. He is the author of several other books including //The Stinky Cheese Man,// which won a Caldecott Honor medal, and //The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.// Scieska says that he likes to write books that will make children laugh and be able to learn something. He says the first book he ever read, //Green Eggs and Ham// by Dr. Seuss made him realize that books could be goofy. Scieska was appointed the first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature in 2008. This position was created by the Library of Congress to raise awareness of the importance of young people's literature and how it relates to many aspects of life including, lifelong literacy, education and the development of the lives of young people. Scieska is currently living in Brooklyn, New York.

__Illustrator Biography:__ Lane Smith, originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma moved to Corona, California where he studied art at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts in illustration and moved to New York City. Lane Smith has written and illustrated many books, including his newest book, a Caldecott Honor, //Grandpa Green.// He has done the illustrations for //Hooray for Diffendoofer Day// by Dr. Suess, //Big Plans// by Bob Shea, and //James and the Giant Peach// by Ron Dahl along with many others. His books have appeared on the //New York Times// Best Illustrated Book of the Year list several times. Lane Smith currently lives in Connecticut.

__Summary:__ Math Curse is a story about a nameless student that all of a sudden sees everything as a math problem. On a Monday the teacher said, "You know, you can think of almost everything as a math problem" and on Tuesday the problem started! The student starts off by waking up and realizes everything arranges itself as a math problem. For example she says, "I wake up at 7:15. It takes me 10 minutes to get dressed, 15 minutes to eat my breakfast, and 1 minute to brush my teeth". She then finds herself thinking, if my bus leaves at 8 will I be on time?The number of shirts in the closet is a problem. The quarts in a gallon of milk are a problem. The number of children already picked up compared with the ones that haven't yet, is a problem. Everything is a math problem! The child is sure the Mrs. Fibonacci put a curse on her and she can't stop seeing things in math terms . At the end of a long day of thinking of everything as a math problem, the student falls asleep and has a dream. In the dream she is trapped in a blackboard room covered by math problems. The only thing she has is a piece of chalk and she has to find a way to escape. She eventually figures out that by breaking the chalk in half that two halves make one whole and through this whole she is able to escape. She awakes the next day with the ability to solve any math problem! Her curse was broken until the next day when in science class the teacher said, "You know, you can think of almost everything as a science experiment..."

__Review:__ I actually really enjoyed this book. It has a sense of humor that made me laugh while I was reading it. I enjoyed the way that it was written and how the illustrations go along really well with what is happening in the book. The way that the book is written has a silly tone to it and while reading I could picture in my mind a young student thinking that their teacher put a "curse" on them by something the teacher said and going crazy during the day thinking about it. I think the cover of the book is really eye catching. The cover of the book says Math Curse in big letters with the student falling into an abyss with numbers all around her. The cover art was what drew me to the book in the first place. This book also really got me thinking, which I think is awesome. Not all children's picture books are going to make you think afterwords. When I finished reading the book it got me thinking that almost everything as a math problem. Prior to reading this book I would have never thought how much in every day life we use simple math skills. For example, figuring out what time I have to be up in the morning if I have practice at 7:00. This book is a great and valuable resource for teachers because they can base lesson plans off of this book. It teaches about math with humor so students will find it interesting. The book will also get the kids thinking because of the math problems that the little girl in the book encounters. While reading the book, you can stop and actually figure out the problems; the best part is that the answers are on the back of the book!

__Analysis of Literary Element:__

The illustrations throughout this book are so detailed and very well done. They really add to the greatness of the book. The illustrations go along well with the text on each page and really allow the readers to see and feel how overwhelmed the young student is by having everything she encounters be a math problem. For example, on one of the pages the young girl is wondering how many quarts are in a gallon and how many pints in a quart. The illustration shows a huge carton of milk being poured over the girl filled with numbers. The girl has an umbrella shielding her from the numbers in the milk. The illustrations make the story more fun to read because there is so much to look at and the pictures are fun and really detailed. Another illustration in the story shows the young girl in a the middle of rulers, pencils, crayons, her fellow classmates making funny faces at her, numbers and math signs. This picture has so much going on it and is comical because of the faces of the characters. Overall, the illustrations remain great throughout the book and definitely add to the humor of the story.