Book Review: Math and Magic in Wonderland

Review: Math and Magic in Wonderland

*Disclosure: I was given a free book to review but all opinions are my own. 

Are you ready to go on a grand adventure?  A magical journey? Then you have to get this book!    It’s a fun expedition from beginning to end. In fact, you will have so much fun that you will not realize you are learning.  You are taken into this interactive book to help solve riddles, puzzles, and math problems; but, there is much more you can learn from this book.  There is also science, literature, and history.  The vocabulary used in this book is amazing. It is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s poetry, but there are references to other famous books, stories, and people. My favorite reference was the nod to Fred Gauss of “Life of Fred”—especially since this book reminded me of the style of “Life of Fred” math books.

I have two boys.  One is 13 years old and the other is 8 years old, so I was unsure if they would be ok with the main characters being girls. But it did not bother them at all because the girls liked to play with toy swords just as my boys do. I was also unsure if the math problems would be too hard for my younger son or too easy for my older son. It turns out they were neither too hard nor too easy.  Both boys found them challenging, yet not too difficult.

We looked forward to relaxing on the couch every day and taking off on our magical exploration. It was fun to solve the puzzles, riddles, and math problems together. We even earned points throughout the book to become mathematical royalty. What about you? Will you be an Apprentice or The Math Monarch?

 A description on the back of the book says, “Lulu and Elizabeth embark on an exciting journey to a realm inspired by Lewis Carroll’s poetry. The twins must use ingenuity and sagacity to solve classic logic puzzles that promise to uncover the book’s secrets and earn them The Vorpal Blade.”

This book is great fun from beginning to end, but don’t take my word for it. Get the book so you can start the adventure for yourself!

Multicultural Children's Book Day: Review of "The Rainbow Files: The Day I Was The Only Kid in School"

 I received a free copy of this book for MCCBD 2015. I was not paid for this review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

                                    Multicultural Children's Book Day
                                               January 27, 2015

I am very excited to be participating in my first Multicultural Children's Book Day. I think reading to children is very important, even when they are old enough to read themselves. It is equally important to discuss these books with your children after you read them.

The book I was chosen to read and review for this special day is, The Rainbow Files: The Day I Was The Only Kid in School. After reading this book you will realize that it facilitates great discussion. 

Included in this post is a great activity to do with your children and some important information about Multicultural Children's Book Day.

Review: The Rainbow Files: The Day I Was The Only Kid in School by Maria Kelly with April E. Kelly
  I am sure as a child you imagined a day when you would go to school and actually get to take over the classroom and teach whatever you wanted. This book is about that type of day. 

One night Shai Keshet awoke to a strange storm.  She was able to go back to sleep; but, the next day, when she arrives at school, she in the only student. It is decided by the principal that she, Shai Keshet, will get to be the teacher for the day. She can teach whatever she wants--and the teachers will be the students!

She chose some very interesting classes, which led to a day of fun and adventure. My children laughed out loud numerous times at the class choices and they loved the illustrations.
 

Activity
  Since we homeschool our children, they are almost always the only students in class. But even though this concept wasn't unusual to them, the amount of discussion that we had from this book still made a great homeschool class.

I asked my boys if they had a whole class all to themselves, what they would choose to teach. My older son said, "I wish I could do that because the whole day we would just have recess and gym." My younger son said, "I would teach a class on light-saber fighting."

This book can reach the reader on an even deeper level. I asked my kids several discussion questions related to this book.  

• How would it feel to be the only person going through something?
• What are some issues that you might face that would make you feel alone?
• How would you handle those situations?
• How could you take control of the situation? 
• How would you treat someone who felt he or she was going through a situation all alone?
• How could you help that person? 

I recommend this book, whether your child is in public school, private school, homeschool, or not yet in school. It engages children by being funny and interesting and encourages them with some very creative discussion.


So you may be asking, "Why are we having Multicultural Book Day?"

                The mission of Multicultural Children's Book Day:


“Our mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries.”  (Founders: Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book and Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom) 


Did you know?  Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Children’s Book Day, Mia and Valarie are on a mission to change all of that. Their mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these types of books into classrooms and libraries. Another goal of this exciting event is create a compilation of books and favorite reads that will provide not only a new reading list for the winter, but also a way to expose brilliant books to families, teachers, and libraries.

So now you may be asking, "How can I help?"
 

Here are some ways you can help us celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day:

• Visit The Multicultural Children’s Book Day website and view our booklists, reading resources and other useful multicultural information.
• Visit our Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board for more reading ideas.
• Have children bring in their favorite multicultural book to school on this day and share it with the class.
• Watch for the #ReadYourWorld hashtag on social media and share
• Visit our Diversity Book Lists and Resources for Educators and Parents on our website
• Visit The Multicultural Children’s Book Day website on January 27^th to view and participate in our huge blogger link-up, multicultural book reviews, giveaways and more! 
• Connect with us on our new Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay 
• Connect with us on our new Twitter https://twitter.com/MCChildsBookDay

MCCBD’s  2015 Sponsors include Platinum Sponsors: Wisdom Tales Press, Daybreak Press Global Bookshop, Gold Sponsors:  Satya House,  MulticulturalKids.com,   Author Stephen Hodges and the Magic Poof, Silver Sponsors: Junior Library Guild,  Capstone Publishing, Lee and Low Books,  The Omnibus Publishing. Bronze Sponsors:Double Dutch Dolls, Bliss Group Books, Author Richa Jha,  Rainbow Books,   Author FeliciaCapers,   Chronicle Books   Muslim Writers Publishing ,East West Discovery Press.

2015 MCCBD CO-HOSTS

Africa to America
All Done Monkey
The Educators’ Spin on It
Growing Book by Book
InCultural Parent
Kid World Citizen
Mama Smiles
Multicultural Kid Blogs
Sprout’s Bookshelf

First Book

We’re also partnering with First Book to offer a Virtual Book Drive that will help donate multicultural children’s books through their channels during the week of the event. We want to help get diversity books into the hands of kids who most need it and now we have a way to do it! The Virtual Book Drive is LIVE and can be found HERE.

Children’s Book Council

A Special Thank You to the Children’s Book Council for their contribution and support.MCCBD is collaborating with Children’s Book Council to highlight wonderful diversity books and authors on an ongoing basis all year.

I plan to donate the book I reviewed to Hempstead County Library.

If you would like more information, or have questions regarding Multicultural Children’s Book Day, please contact Valarie Budayr at Valarie@AudreyPress.com or Mia Wenjen at pragmaticmomblog@gmail.com