LET’S PLAY MUMS AND DADS!
Author: Hye Ok Lee
Illustrator: Ha Jin Jeong
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Number of pages: 26
Publisher: Ginger Books (UK) First published in: Unknown Translated into English in: 2014 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 mother tells to her little daughter about what she liked to play as a child. She played mums and dads with her next-door friends. It was a make-believe play, where pebbles became beans and stones – potatoes. This story is set in South Korea, in Asia. It will have parents recounting their childhood memories and sharing them with their children. |
“"The big blocks are slices of bread." "The little blocks are fish." "You find big stones for potatoes." "All I'll find little pebbles for beans." "The round ones are ham." "The square ones are crackers."”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Hye Ok Lee’s ‘Let’s Play Mums and Dads!’ 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 2014. The story follows a group of children who use everyday items as imaginary food items when they play mums and dads. For example, round wooden blocks are used for ham; square wooden blocks are crackers; little wooden blocks are for fish and little pebbles for beans. The story encourages children to start noticing shapes in their everyday life and it has the potential to prompt the children to start using informal language to describe these basic shapes they have come across. The weakness of this story book is that while its blurb describing this story as encouraging “the reader to identify shapes in everyday objects”- this mathematical element can only be found in two pages in the book, which makes it appear like an add-on, as opposed to a story with a mathematical focus. 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, if you are looking for mathematical story picture books that either introduce or reinforce the concept of 2D and 3D shapes to young children, there are better ones in the market that do a much better job in showing young children the different types of 2D and 3D shapes and their associated terms and vocabulary. (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; 3D 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.
Hye Ok Lee’s ‘Let’s Play Mums and Dads!’ 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 2014. The story follows a group of children who use everyday items as imaginary food items when they play mums and dads. For example, round wooden blocks are used for ham; square wooden blocks are crackers; little wooden blocks are for fish and little pebbles for beans. The story encourages children to start noticing shapes in their everyday life and it has the potential to prompt the children to start using informal language to describe these basic shapes they have come across. The weakness of this story book is that while its blurb describing this story as encouraging “the reader to identify shapes in everyday objects”- this mathematical element can only be found in two pages in the book, which makes it appear like an add-on, as opposed to a story with a mathematical focus. 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, if you are looking for mathematical story picture books that either introduce or reinforce the concept of 2D and 3D shapes to young children, there are better ones in the market that do a much better job in showing young children the different types of 2D and 3D shapes and their associated terms and vocabulary. (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; 3D 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.
