COULD YOU LIFT UP YOUR BOTTOM?
Author: Hee-jung Chang
Illustrator: Sung-hwa Chung
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Number of pages: 28
Publisher: TanTan Publishing First published in: Unknown Translated into English in: 2015 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
A gust of wind has blown Frog’s hat off of her head - and now it’s stuck under Elephant’s bottom. Elephant is hungry and won’t budge until Frog feeds him all kinds of delicious foods with unusual shapes. Will a fresh bagel entice Elephant to lift up his bottom - or will Frog need to figure out a more creative way to retrieve her hat? Elementary math concepts that relate to differentiating, naming, and combining shapes expand this clever story about creative problem-solving. |
“But Elephant wouldn't budge. "I won't move until you bring me something even more delicious," he said. "I want something that has a ... circle with a circle!"”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Hee-jung Chang’s ‘Could You Lift Up Your Bottom?’ 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 is about Frog whose fancy hat is blown away by a gust of wind. Instead of helping to pick up the hat and return it to the frog, naughty Elephant decides to sit on it instead. His excuse is that he is too hungry to get up and later asks Frog to bring him a range of food items of different shapes to eat (e.g. ‘round’, ‘triangle’, ‘rectangle’, 'a circle within a circle', ‘something round inside of something triangular’, and ‘special shapes’). Each time, Elephant wants more. Frog eventually finds a way to get Elephant to get up and leave for good! The story does a good job in introducing a range of shapes to young children using a fun and engaging storyline. The page illustrations are visually appealing and the illustrating technique is quite creative. 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, ‘Could You Lift Up Your Bottom?’ is a nice story to either introduce or reinforce the concept of 2D shapes for children aged 5+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
5+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
2D shapes
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.
Hee-jung Chang’s ‘Could You Lift Up Your Bottom?’ 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 is about Frog whose fancy hat is blown away by a gust of wind. Instead of helping to pick up the hat and return it to the frog, naughty Elephant decides to sit on it instead. His excuse is that he is too hungry to get up and later asks Frog to bring him a range of food items of different shapes to eat (e.g. ‘round’, ‘triangle’, ‘rectangle’, 'a circle within a circle', ‘something round inside of something triangular’, and ‘special shapes’). Each time, Elephant wants more. Frog eventually finds a way to get Elephant to get up and leave for good! The story does a good job in introducing a range of shapes to young children using a fun and engaging storyline. The page illustrations are visually appealing and the illustrating technique is quite creative. 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, ‘Could You Lift Up Your Bottom?’ is a nice story to either introduce or reinforce the concept of 2D shapes for children aged 5+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
5+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
2D shapes
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.
