Math Curse & Science Verse ~ Book Sharing Monday - Eva Varga

April 26, 20102
Math Curse and Science Verse
by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith

Math Curse begins when Mrs. Fibonacci states in class, “You know, you can think of almost everything as a math problem.”  The next morning, a nameless student finds himself thinking of how long it will take him to get dressed, eat his breakfast, and brush his teeth.  Will he have enough time to catch the bus?  Soon thereafter, probability questions are followed with charts and statistics, a class treat of cupcakes becomes a study in fractions, a chocolate bar treat becomes an algebraic equation … everything in his life is transformed into a math problem.

Finally, he is left painstakingly calculating how many minutes of “math madness” will be in her life now that she is a “mathematical lunatic.” His sister asks him what his problem is, and he snarls, “365 days x 24 hours x 60 minutes.” Will the curse be broken?  The next day, his science teacher mentions that in life, everything can be viewed as a science experiment…

Math Curse is full of actual math problems and some rather silly, unrelated questions. Readers can try to solve the problems and check their answers, which are located on the back cover of the book.  Sweetie enjoys trying to solve the problems while we are reading.  Most are too advanced right now – little does she know that these problems will someday soon become her assignment for the day.

Opening in much the same way, Science Verse takes readers on an adventure through the many genres and topics in the field of science in prose form. Mr. Newton has zapped him with a curse of science verse!

Jack Be Nimble
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack jump over the combustion reaction of O2 + heat + fuel to form CO2 + light + heat + exhaust.
In the story, the humorous poems about science are inspired by famous works such as Poe’s The Raven and Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.  Can you identify which famous poem each one was based upon?  What are you studying right now?  Can you write a science verse of your own?


2 comments

  • Alex

    April 26, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    We love these books!!!

  • Alex

    April 28, 2010 at 6:22 pm

    I have added a Mr. Linky for all our Book Sharing Monday posts. This tool will be available as of next Monday, May 3.
    If you post a book sharing post, please take a minute to stop by my post on monday and share your link!
    Thank you!

Comments are closed.


%d bloggers like this: