MOONCHAP
Author: Mary Murphy
Illustrator: Mary Murphy
Number of pages: 48
Publisher: Flying Foxes (UK) First published in: 2003 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? No Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
Moonchap is looking for a new place to live. Square and Circle offer to share their island, but Moonchap isn't so sure! They fight a lot. Can he help them to become good neighbours and to overcome each other's differences? |
“Moonchap rushed to his boat for his toolbox to fix Square and Circle. But he was in such a hurry, he stuck half of Square to half of Circle, and half of Circle to half of Square. The two new shapes looked at themselves. They looked at each other. "What are we?" they asked.”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Mary Murphy’s (2003) ‘Moonchap’ is a story about a half-circled shape Moonchap, who sets out to explore a new territory where he and his friends could live on. Soon after, he arrives at at a land where Square and Circle live. The two neighbours fight a lot to the point where one day each of them is equally broken is half. In a rush to try to save them by putting them together, Moonchap ended up mistakenly joining each half of Square with each half of Circle, creating two new composite shapes who are much more friendly to each other. This story is perfect for introducing young readers to similarities and differences between 2D shapes, and a perfect story for older children to learn about composite shapes. (The latter can also provide a context for children to find areas and perimeters of composite shapes) Page illustrations are super cute and very colourful, and the ones showing individual 2D shapes and composite shapes are particularly useful to help children clearly see similarities and differences between 2D shapes and what composite shapes mean. All in all, ‘Moonchap’ is a perfect story for children aged 5+ years old to observe similarities and differences between 2D shapes, and a perfect story to introduce children aged 9+ years old to learn about composite shapes.
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.
Mary Murphy’s (2003) ‘Moonchap’ is a story about a half-circled shape Moonchap, who sets out to explore a new territory where he and his friends could live on. Soon after, he arrives at at a land where Square and Circle live. The two neighbours fight a lot to the point where one day each of them is equally broken is half. In a rush to try to save them by putting them together, Moonchap ended up mistakenly joining each half of Square with each half of Circle, creating two new composite shapes who are much more friendly to each other. This story is perfect for introducing young readers to similarities and differences between 2D shapes, and a perfect story for older children to learn about composite shapes. (The latter can also provide a context for children to find areas and perimeters of composite shapes) Page illustrations are super cute and very colourful, and the ones showing individual 2D shapes and composite shapes are particularly useful to help children clearly see similarities and differences between 2D shapes and what composite shapes mean. All in all, ‘Moonchap’ is a perfect story for children aged 5+ years old to observe similarities and differences between 2D shapes, and a perfect story to introduce children aged 9+ years old to learn about composite shapes.
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.