Mummy Math: An Adventure in Geometry

by Cindy Neuschwander, Bryan Langdo (Illustrator)

Overview

Matt, Bibi, and their dog Riley crawled through the tiny opening first. FWUMP! A secret door suddenly closed behind them . . .

The Zills family is summoned to Egypt to help find the hidden burial chamber of an ancient pharaoh. But when Matt and Bibi get trapped in the pharaoh's pyramid, they stumble upon an even bigger mystery. With only each other, their dog Riley, and the geometric hieroglyphics on the walls to help them, the twins must use their math skills to locate the burial chamber—and the way out. Luckily, Matt and Bibi know their stuff when it comes to geometric solids, and so will the readers of this adventure in math!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312561178
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	07/21/2009
Series:	Matt and Bibi Math Adventures
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	217,251
Product dimensions:	7.80(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Cindy Neuschwander is the author of the Sir Cumference series, and she is also a third-grade teacher. Although she has never been trapped inside a pyramid, she has explored some in Egypt. Ms. Neuschwander lives with her family in Northern California.

Bryan Langdo is the illustrator of several books for young readers. He is a big fan of mummy movies and lives in New Jersey with his wife.

Together, Ms. Neuschwander and Mr. Lango have created three Adventures in Math picture books for Henry Holt. Patterns in Peru was published in Spring 2007, and Pastry School in Paris will be out in Spring 2009.

Editorial Reviews

The illustrations, by Bryan Langdo, are bright and clever, and there's a straightforward lesson in geometry built into the promise of Egypt. . . . very young Egyptologists will enjoy the archaeological atmosphere.” —The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

Gr 1-4-Matt and Bibi go to Egypt with their scientist parents in search of an ancient pharaoh's mummy. When the siblings are accidentally shut in the pyramid, they decide to explore. Using hieroglyphic clues, they discover that the path to the mummy is delineated by "faces," the flat surfaces of geometric solids. As they find either pictures of solid shapes or the objects themselves, the twins count the faces of the shapes and are guided through the pyramid by relating their answers to the hieroglyphic clues. They find the mummy and a map indicating the way out. Although this book attempts to provide an introduction to solid geometry, the information is not clearly presented. The colorful impressionist cartoons depict the various shapes discussed in the text, but they are not labeled. The plot itself is a stretch: before they leave for Egypt, Bibi says she hopes to learn about hieroglyphics, but as soon as she arrives there, she is expert enough to interpret complex messages. An endnote lists some good activities to help children learn about geometric solids, but the story will leave readers more confused than enlightened. Try Stuart J. Murphy's Captain Invincible and the Space Shapes (HarperCollins, 2001) and Tana Hoban's Cubes, Cones, Cylinders, & Spheres (Greenwillow, 2000) for better introductions to this topic.-Lynda Ritterman, Atco Elementary School, Waterford, NJ Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Amateur archeology sleuths follow geometric clues to find a pharaoh's mummy. Matt and Bibi are the twin children of scientists invited to Egypt. First to enter the pyramid, the two are trapped inside when a secret door closes. Luckily, Bibi learned to read hieroglyphics before they left home. Along with the writing on the wall are geometric solids. The pair follows the clues leading them to count the faces on the solids. Definitely not an introductory text to geometric solids, this is more a reinforcement of the concept. The historical knowledge readers will take from this is a mix of factual and farcical. Limestone rock, papyrus scrolls and the antechamber filled with items needed for the afterlife are on target. The giant granite towers inside the pyramid and the carved wooden box that holds the pharaoh's clean underwear are not. Attempting to be both entertaining story and teaching text makes this fall a little flat and the whole premise is silly. (Picture book. 8-11)

Kirkus Reviews