ONE SNOWY NIGHT
Author: Seon-hye Jang
Illustrator: Sinae Jo
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Number of pages: 28
Publisher: big & SMALL Publishing (UK) 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
Grandma has been preparing for winter. She has knitted scarves that are just the right size for the children of the town. The scarves are 5 hand spans long. But on a snowy night Grandma has some surprise visitors that are cold. She needs to measure her visitors for blankets. How does she measure them? What size blankets do they need? |
“Grandma stretched out her hands to measure the big bear's neck. "One span, two spans, three spans, four spans, five spans ... Oh dear! Your neck is over five hand spans! I'll measure it with my arms. Your neck is two arms lengths. That's how long the scarf must be."”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Seon-hye Jang’s ‘One Snowy Night’ 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 2016. The story is about a Grandma who, on one wintery night, is visited by a big bear, a fox and a racoon – all of whom are seeking shelter from a snowstorm. To keep them warm, Grandma offers them scarves and warm blankets. To ensure she gets each of them the right-sized scarf and blanket, she measures the width of their neck and their height with her hand spans and arm lengths. The story provides a perfect context for children to learn about non-standard measurement units and can be used to prompt them to think about other non-standard measurement units that can be used to measure everyday items. 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, ‘One Snowy Night’ is a great story to introduce the concept of measurement, particularly non-standard measurement units to children aged 5+ years old.
Recommended age range:
5 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
Length & Distance
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.
Seon-hye Jang’s ‘One Snowy Night’ 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 2016. The story is about a Grandma who, on one wintery night, is visited by a big bear, a fox and a racoon – all of whom are seeking shelter from a snowstorm. To keep them warm, Grandma offers them scarves and warm blankets. To ensure she gets each of them the right-sized scarf and blanket, she measures the width of their neck and their height with her hand spans and arm lengths. The story provides a perfect context for children to learn about non-standard measurement units and can be used to prompt them to think about other non-standard measurement units that can be used to measure everyday items. 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, ‘One Snowy Night’ is a great story to introduce the concept of measurement, particularly non-standard measurement units to children aged 5+ years old.
Recommended age range:
5 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
Length & Distance
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.
