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EXPLORE OTHER 'SORTING & CLASSIFYING' STORIES HERE

A MOUSY MESS
​
Author: Laura Driscoll
​Illustrator: Deborah Melmon 

Picture
Number of pages: 27
Publisher: Kane Press (USA)
First published in: 2014
Format: Picturebook

Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes
Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (Mouse Math)

Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN

Synopsis by the author/publisher
While the cat's away, the mice will visit the playroom! But when all the toys come tumbling down, can Albert sort them back into the right bins before the People come home?
“Albert picked up a blue ball and headed for the blue pile. Then he stopped. Should it go in the round, roll-y pile instead? Or maybe the big pile?”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Laura Driscoll’s ‘A Mousy Mess’ (2014) is a story about a young mouse named Albert, his sister Wanda and their friend Leo who come out to play with a child’s toys before Albert accidentally knocks over the toys out of their different containers. Panicked, they quickly think of different ways to put these toys back into their containers so the people would not know that they had been there. Initially, some toys are sorted by their colour, while others are sorted by their shapes and sizes. Then, Albert finds a “big blue round roll-y ball” which can go into more than one pile. This prompts the mice to rethink about how best the toys should be sorted and organised. The story encourages young readers to think of other ways the toys can be sorted to help Albert, Wanda and Leo solve the problem. There are so many follow-up activities that teachers can do with their children once they have read the story, for example, children could be asked to sort out a bucket full of various different items from around the classroom using 1-2 pre-determined sorting criteria (e.g. colour and material) and then the children could be encouraged to come up with their own criteria as well. All in all, we highly recommend ‘A Mousy Mess’ ​to introduce the concept of sorting and classification to children, aged 5+ years old.

Recommended age range: 
5+ years old

Relevant mathematics topics: 
Sorting & Classifying

​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.

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ABOUT US

MathsThroughStories.org is a non-profit research-based initiative, based at the University of Reading's Institute of Education (UK).

It sets out to help mathematics learners around the world develop their conceptual understanding in mathematics and to help them foster positive attitudes towards the subject through  the power of storytelling.

Contact Us

  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • RESEARCH TEAM
    • On-line Contributors
    • Research Dissemination
    • Research Impact
    • SHOUTOUTS
    • Teacher Training / CPD Services
    • MEDIA APPEARANCES
  • RESOURCES
    • RECOMMENDATIONS
    • BLOG
    • NEWSLETTER
    • BOOK REVIEWS >
      • BOOK REVIEWS
      • INSPECTION COPIES
    • LESSON IDEAS
    • VIDEOS
    • CREATE YOUR OWN MATHEMATICAL STORIES >
      • GUIDELINE FOR MATHEMATICAL STORY AUTHORS
      • INTERVIEWS WITH MATHEMATICAL STORY AUTHORS
    • 'HOW TO' BOOKS
    • RESEARCH ARTICLES
    • PRACTITIONER-ORIENTED ARTICLES
  • COMPETITIONS
    • 2025 YMSA WINNING, SHORTLISTED AND LONGLISTED ENTRIES
    • 2024 YMSA WINNING, SHORTLISTED AND LONGLISTED ENTRIES
    • 2023 YMSA WINNING, SHORTLISTED AND LONGLISTED ENTRIES
    • 2022 YMSA WINNING, SHORTLISTED AND LONGLISTED ENTRIES
    • 2021 YMSA WINNING, SHORTLISTED AND LONGLISTED ENTRIES
    • 2020 YMSA WINNING, SHORTLISTED AND LONGLISTED ENTRIES
    • 2019 YMSA WINNING AND SHORTLISTED ENTRIES
  • NEWS
  • CONTACT US
    • GET INVOLVED