Celebrate diversity, math, and the power of storytelling!
Bo wants to find the perfect container to show off his traditional marbles for the Cherokee national Holiday. It needs to be just the right size: big enough to fit all the marbles, but not too big to fit in his family's booth at the festival for the Cherokee National Holiday. And it needs to look good! With his grandmother's help, Bo tries many containers until he finds just the right one. A playful exploration of volume and capacity featuring Native characters and a glossary of Cherokee words.
Storytelling Math celebrates children using math in their daily adventures as they play, build, and discover the world around them. Joyful stories and hands-on activities make it easy for kids and their grown-ups to explore everyday math together. Developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education nonprofit TERC, under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Through investigation, Bo discovers the perfect container to display his marble collection at the Cherokee National Holiday festival. For months, Bo has worked hard on painting round stones to make homemade marbles. He is finally old enough to sell them at his family’s craft booth. His grandma, Elisi, says there is only so much space at the table so he will need to find something to hold the marbles. She sends him to “look around. Just don’t make a big ol’ mess!” Bo hunts through the boxes in his room, but nothing is big enough. When he finds a large tray, Elisi says, “Tla.…Our booth is small. Your container needs to fit on this mat.” Bo carries the mat around the house, experimenting with containers of different shapes and sizes. He dumps out the contents of a ribbon box, a tool crate, and a tall vase, but nothing works. He is about to give up and ask for help when he empties the contents of a basket. His marbles fit perfectly! Elisi’s house is a mess, but Bo has found just the right container to show and sell his homemade marbles. Incorporating snatches of Cherokee, Coulson’s (Cherokee) tale conveys the challenges of estimating volume even as it develops three-dimensional characters and their affectionate relationship. Goodnight’s (Chickasaw) illustrations are lively and full of details specific to Cherokee culture. This fun, math-inspired story will empower children to keep trying until they succeed. —Kirkus Reviews
Everybody seeking math books for kids should invest in the Storytelling Math series. Look, Grandma! Ni, Elisi! is one entry in the series, introducing spatial concepts like volume and area in the tale of a Cherokee boy named Bo determining how to show off his traditional marbles for the Cherokee National Holiday. The book incorporates Cherokee words while it also demonstrates the kind of mathematical thinking kids can do in their own lives. Other entries in the series investigate concepts like division, estimation, measurement, and more. —Book Riot
Art Coulson is Cherokee from Oklahoma and comes from a family of storytellers. Some of his earliest memories are of listening to stories and reading books on his grandmother's lap. Art now writes his own books for young readers, including Unstoppable: How Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team Defeated Army. He lives with his family in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Madelyn Goodnight is a member of the Chickasaw Nation, whose work reflects her love of childhood. She holds a degree from Rhode Island School of design and lives in Brooklyn. She is the illustrator of The Pear Tree. www.madelyngoodnight.com
Celebrate diversity, math, and the power of storytelling!
Bo wants to find the perfect container to show off his traditional marbles for the Cherokee national Holiday. It needs to be just the right size: big enough to fit all the marbles, but not too big to fit in his family's booth at the festival for the Cherokee National Holiday. And it needs to look good! With his grandmother's help, Bo tries many containers until he finds just the right one. A playful exploration of volume and capacity featuring Native characters and a glossary of Cherokee words.
Storytelling Math celebrates children using math in their daily adventures as they play, build, and discover the world around them. Joyful stories and hands-on activities make it easy for kids and their grown-ups to explore everyday math together. Developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education nonprofit TERC, under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Reviews
Through investigation, Bo discovers the perfect container to display his marble collection at the Cherokee National Holiday festival. For months, Bo has worked hard on painting round stones to make homemade marbles. He is finally old enough to sell them at his family’s craft booth. His grandma, Elisi, says there is only so much space at the table so he will need to find something to hold the marbles. She sends him to “look around. Just don’t make a big ol’ mess!” Bo hunts through the boxes in his room, but nothing is big enough. When he finds a large tray, Elisi says, “Tla.…Our booth is small. Your container needs to fit on this mat.” Bo carries the mat around the house, experimenting with containers of different shapes and sizes. He dumps out the contents of a ribbon box, a tool crate, and a tall vase, but nothing works. He is about to give up and ask for help when he empties the contents of a basket. His marbles fit perfectly! Elisi’s house is a mess, but Bo has found just the right container to show and sell his homemade marbles. Incorporating snatches of Cherokee, Coulson’s (Cherokee) tale conveys the challenges of estimating volume even as it develops three-dimensional characters and their affectionate relationship. Goodnight’s (Chickasaw) illustrations are lively and full of details specific to Cherokee culture. This fun, math-inspired story will empower children to keep trying until they succeed. —Kirkus Reviews
Everybody seeking math books for kids should invest in the Storytelling Math series. Look, Grandma! Ni, Elisi! is one entry in the series, introducing spatial concepts like volume and area in the tale of a Cherokee boy named Bo determining how to show off his traditional marbles for the Cherokee National Holiday. The book incorporates Cherokee words while it also demonstrates the kind of mathematical thinking kids can do in their own lives. Other entries in the series investigate concepts like division, estimation, measurement, and more. —Book Riot
Author
Art Coulson is Cherokee from Oklahoma and comes from a family of storytellers. Some of his earliest memories are of listening to stories and reading books on his grandmother's lap. Art now writes his own books for young readers, including Unstoppable: How Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team Defeated Army. He lives with his family in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Madelyn Goodnight is a member of the Chickasaw Nation, whose work reflects her love of childhood. She holds a degree from Rhode Island School of design and lives in Brooklyn. She is the illustrator of The Pear Tree. www.madelyngoodnight.com
