A DAY AT GRANDMA’S
Author: Mi-ae Lee
Illustrator: Yang-sook Choi
Number of pages: 32
Publisher: Nutrend (South Africa) First published in: Unknown Translated into English in: 2012 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (TanTan Math Story) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
Yujin is spending the day at her grandmother’s house. She is busy, and there are many fun things to explore! But from dawn to dusk, she thinks about - and misses - her mama at home. The day seems long, until she’s home ... and happy again in her mother’s arms. Elementary concepts of time and routines that link to different times of the day expand this gentle story about the strong bonds that link parent and child. |
“It is now afternoon. Usually after we eat a delicious lunch, the sun begins to lower slowly in the sky. Mommy knows it's time for me to snuggle in bed for a peaceful nap. I wonder if Mommy is thinking about me now. Of course she is!”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Mi-ae Lee’s ‘A Day at Grandma’s’ is part of the world’s largest mathematical story picture book series, called TanTan Math Story (70+ titles). The English translation of this original South Korean version was done in 2015. The story follows a woman who misses her daughter who has gone to spend the day at her Grandma’s place. At every key point throughout the day (dawn, morning, almost noon, noon, afternoon, dusk, evening, and night), they think about each other and what the other person would likely be doing. The story is great in helping very young children contexualise the concept of time without needing to go into such details as hours, minutes and seconds. However, age of the target audience does not seem to match the wordiness of the story. Like most titles in this series, the book comes with a few mathematical word problems relating to the story to be solved at the end of the story. All in all, ‘A Day at Grandma’s’ is a useful story to introduce the concept of time to children aged 4+ years old though there are also other story picture books that addresses the same concept but are not as wordy as this title. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
4 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
Time telling & Days of the week
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
Mi-ae Lee’s ‘A Day at Grandma’s’ is part of the world’s largest mathematical story picture book series, called TanTan Math Story (70+ titles). The English translation of this original South Korean version was done in 2015. The story follows a woman who misses her daughter who has gone to spend the day at her Grandma’s place. At every key point throughout the day (dawn, morning, almost noon, noon, afternoon, dusk, evening, and night), they think about each other and what the other person would likely be doing. The story is great in helping very young children contexualise the concept of time without needing to go into such details as hours, minutes and seconds. However, age of the target audience does not seem to match the wordiness of the story. Like most titles in this series, the book comes with a few mathematical word problems relating to the story to be solved at the end of the story. All in all, ‘A Day at Grandma’s’ is a useful story to introduce the concept of time to children aged 4+ years old though there are also other story picture books that addresses the same concept but are not as wordy as this title. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
4 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
Time telling & Days of the week
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.