EXPLORE OTHER 'MATHEMATICIANS' STORIES HERE

EXPLORE OTHER 'NUMBER SEQUENCES' STORIES HERE

BLOCKHEAD: THE LIFE OF FIBONACCI
​Author: Joseph D'Agnese 
​Illustrator: John O'Brien

Number of pages: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company (USA)
First published in: 2010
Format: Picturebook

Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes
Is this story part of a mathematics story series? No

Click here to preview and/or purchase this book via the Amazon (UK) website ​

Synopsis by the author/publisher
As a young boy in medieval Italy, Leonardo Fibonacci thought about numbers day and night. He was such a daydreamer that people called him a blockhead. When Leonardo grew up and traveled the world, he was inspired by the numbers used in different countries. Then he realized that many things in nature, from the number of petals on a flower to the spiral of a nautilus shell, seem to follow a certain pattern. The boy who was once teased for being a blockhead had discovered what came to be known as the Fibonacci Sequence!​

“Here are the first few numbers of the pattern: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377. If you don't watch out, you'll have 233 pairs of rabbits in a year!”

Recommended age range: 
10 years old + 

Relevant mathematics topics: 
Mathematicians​; Number Sequences​

​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.