The Forest of Numbers

The Forest of Numbers is written and illustrated by Abby Lewis. Being a homeschool educator for 24 years, my excitement over this book could only be understood by a fellow educator. In my view, math is among the most challenging subjects to teach as well as for children to grasp. It does an outstanding job of explaining math concepts in a way students can grasp. A storybook format is used to explain mathematical concepts and provide students with the opportunity to solve actual mathematical problems. 

This book covers:

The Journey Begins

Statements with Grape

Proofs with Mathy

Numbers at the Number Market

Division with the Crabs

Modular Arithmetic with Worm

Riddle Me This

Solutions

What is a Humboldt Marten?

Maisie Marten, Worm, and Grape a banana slug are the main characters in the book. Maisie's dream is to experience the ocean, but she's terrified of numbers. There is only one way to do this: through the Forest of Numbers! Maisie decides she'll go as long as Worm is with her. Her friend Grape, who lives in the Forest, is also on her mind. She learns about Statements from Grape in the Forest of Numbers. From Mathy the Owl, Maisie learns about Proofs. As they cross the giant river, they see The Number Market and see the stands for Natural Numbers, Odd & Even Numbers, Negative Numbers, Rational Numbers, and Irrational Numbers. Maisie had no idea how many numbers there were to comprehend!They were approaching the forest edge when the soil turned to sand. Forest sounds faded away, and soon they heard ocean waves crashing against the shore. At last, they had reached the ocean! A scuttling sound was heard in the sand. There were crabs in the sand. Maisie was quite shy but said, "Hello." The crab responded back, "12." Worm then said, "The creatures of the dunes don't speak in words like you and me. They are ancient. They've lived here for so long, they don't remember anything but the numbers." Crabs love Division. There are twelve Riddle Me This problems at the end of the book. One of the problems is, "Worm wants a slice of pie and thinks it might be fun to eat exactly pi slices of pie. Is this possible?" 

Detailed explanations and definitions are provided for all of the above mathematical terms. The students are asked to write their own examples of each. Each concept is explained with mathematical problems. In some cases, the main term might have one or two additional terms to accompany it. The artwork throughout the book is amazing. 

I recommend this book. Abby Lewis should write more books about math. One well-known homeschool math curriculum uses story-based math instruction. Yet The Forest of Numbers is remarkably different in many ways. What a wonderful book. Abby, please write more!

Disclaimer - I received this Ebook in exchange for my honest review.