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EXPLORE OTHER 'ADDITION & SUBTRACTION' STORIES HERE

RUFFER’S BIRTHDAY PARTY 
​Author: Soon-jae Shin
​Illustrator: Min-jung Kim

Picture
Number of pages: 36
Publisher: TanTan Publishing (USA)
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
Ruffer the puppy has never had a birthday party, and Nora is determined to make her best friend’s big day special! There’s a lot to do to get ready—and a few bumps along the way. But with effort and teamwork, Nora and Ruffer cook up a delicious celebration with all their friends! Elementary math concepts that relate to addition and subtraction expand this story about a pair of clever and resourceful friends.​
“Hmm ... which fruit is the least expensive? Ruffer subtracts the sale amounts from the original prices.” 
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Soon-jae Shin’s ‘Ruffer’s Birthday Party’ 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 follows Nora and her pet puppy, Ruffer, in the days leading up to Ruffer’s birthday. There are so much for Nora to do including working out how many people (and their pets) to invite altogether; how many eggs to buy to make the birthday cake for Ruffer, and which discounted fruit to buy, etc. All of these everyday activities require Nora to use her addition and subtraction skills. Page illustrations are cute and useful in helping very young children to see the process of adding and taking away something. 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. Unfortunately, there is a mathematical error in the story: at one point, Nora needs to work out the total cost of buying three different items (i.e. ice cream $4, strawberries $5 and eggs $2), and the corresponding number sentence for this is ‘$4 + $5 = $9 + $2 = $11’. All in all, ‘Ruffer’s Birthday Party’ is a wonderful story to introduce the concept of addition and subtraction to children aged 4+ years old, though the aforementioned error must be addressed. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)

​Recommended age range: 
5 years old + 

Relevant mathematics topics: 
​Addition & Subtraction

​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. 

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ABOUT US

MathsThroughStories.org is a non-profit and research-based initiative, based at the University of Reading's Institute of Education (UK).

It sets out to help mathematics learners around the world develop their conceptual understanding in mathematics and to help them foster positive attitudes towards the subject through  the power of storytelling.

Contact Us

  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • RESEARCH TEAM
    • On-line Contributors
    • Research Dissemination
    • Research Impact
    • SHOUTOUTS
    • Teacher Training / CPD Services
    • MEDIA APPEARANCES
  • RESOURCES
    • RECOMMENDATIONS
    • BLOG
    • NEWSLETTER
    • BOOK REVIEWS >
      • BOOK REVIEWS
      • INSPECTION COPIES
    • LESSON IDEAS
    • VIDEOS
    • CREATE YOUR OWN MATHEMATICAL STORIES >
      • GUIDELINE FOR MATHEMATICAL STORY AUTHORS
      • INTERVIEWS WITH MATHEMATICAL STORY AUTHORS
    • 'HOW TO' BOOKS
    • RESEARCH ARTICLES
    • PRACTITIONER-ORIENTED ARTICLES
  • COMPETITIONS
    • 2022 YMSA WINNING, SHORTLISTED AND LONGLISTED ENTRIES
    • 2021 YMSA WINNING, SHORTLISTED AND LONGLISTED ENTRIES
    • 2020 YMSA WINNING, SHORTLISTED AND LONGLISTED ENTRIES
    • 2019 YMSA WINNING AND SHORTLISTED ENTRIES
  • NEWS
  • CONTACT US
    • GET INVOLVED