Title: Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter – a Math Adventure
Written by Cindy Neuschwander
Illustrated by Wayne Geehan
Published by Charlesbridge, 2006
Ages: 8 -13
Themes: math, geometry, medieval times, islands, riddles, adventure, legends, sea serpents,
Opening lines:
Young Per sat with her uncle and aunt, Sir Cumference and Lady Di of Ameter. Her cousin, Radius, was teaching her the game of Inners and Edges.
Synopsis:
“Sir Cumference returns in this tale that introduces readers to the concepts of perimeter and area. As in the previous books, Neuschwander’s characters have names that play with mathematical terminology. In this adventure Per visits his uncle and aunt (Sir Cumference and Lady Di of Ameter). After learning a game involving inners and edges, she and her cousin Radius become embroiled in a mystery with a secret message and a threatening sea serpent. To solve it, the youngsters must travel to the Isle of Immeter and use a series of geometric formulas to tame the sea serpent and bring peace to the area. Readers already familiar with these formulas will have the most ease understanding and solving the mystery.” SLJ
The book covers area and perimeter of rectangular shapes and derivation of the area of a circle.
Why I like this book:
Fabulous fun resource for teachers/parents introducing the concepts of perimeter and area to children. There four earlier books in the series that go well with this one. I love the choice of setting this in a medieval period. Apparently Neuschwander, an elementary teacher with a passion for math, got the idea while visiting medieval castles in England. I also find the combination of riddles and math a great one for kids. This was a great reminder of these math concepts for ME, too! Not only does this book teach students math concepts, but it is also engaging and interesting and full of adventure. The illustrations are bright and vivid, which will create a connection for the student to use when they need help. I do like the outcome for the dangerous sea serpent!
Activities:
Have the children create and play Inners and Edges, the math game introduced on the first page of the story.
There are hands on activity ideas included in the story as well, so the teacher/parent can instruct students through the activity as they read the book.
The final page of the book explains how Per and Radius learnt about the formulae.
The Sir Cumference series is reviewed on the Living Math website.
Every Friday, authors and KidLit bloggers post a favorite picture book. To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Books.
In my 20's, with only my guitar and a rucksack, I wandered the continents, immersing myself in the lives of some wonderful people, projects and stories, which changed the way I view my responsibility to others and this earth. Right now I'm a European transplant in the US who writes books for children and young adults. Stories can help us not only navigate our world but can connect us to others, and allow us to inspire and help each other. I believe that equity and empathy should be at the core of our all actions, words, and stories.
I am also a school librarian and I get a kick out of book-matchmaking! And I use the pronouns she/her.
Thank you, Joanna. I used Sir Cumference and the First Round Table in my classroom and the students loved it!
I am so happy to read about this series being used in the classroom, Krista!
Two math books so far this week on PPBF! These are great suggestions to keep kids thinking over the summer while school is out.
I do like to throw in some math and science ones now and again amid all the nature and cross cultural picture books I review!
Somehow I knew this was your pick.. Castles and math — who would have thought a math concept book! It really sounds like a fun interesting read. There are so many creative authors with wonderful ideas. Great addition to our PPBF list.
The weaving of geometry into a great picture story is a cunning idea!
Love the play on words, this sounds awesome!
Great wordplay, Catherine!
I LOVE the names! 😀
Yep, the names make me laugh, Erik!
We loved this book (and the other one about the Knights of the Round Table, I think it was called) when my kids were little. I have a special fondness for all science and math books but especially when they’re in PB format. 🙂
I need to check out the Knights of the Round Table, Teresa!
Yes! Yes! Yes! We love this series in our house. Thank-you for the great review.
How exciting to see how many people love this series! Cool!
Yay for books that make math fun! Great find, Joanna – happy to read so many positive comments too.
Me, too!
Another fun Maths book. Great minds I think… 🙂 Maths was never I subject I liked at school. But interesting books like this might have helped. Thanks Joanna.
I think I would have enjoyed geometry a lot more if learning with Sir Cumference!
Thank you fro adding this fun math picture book to our list, Joanna! I can’t believe it, but I think this is the first of this series to show up here! We have the first three and they were popular in our house, but I have never read this one – I shall have to go find it 🙂
Yes, I checked with the PPBF lists and saw it hadn’t been added yet. Yay for another household that loved them!
Oh, this sounds like a ton of fun. Just my kind of book. Thanks for sharing!