SIR CUMFERENCE GETS DECIMA'S POINT
Author: Cindy Neuschwander
Illustrator: Wayne Geehan
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Number of pages: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing (USA) First published in: 2020 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (Sir Cumference and Charlesbridge's Math Adventure) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
The best baker in the realm has a delicious problem. Camelot's best baker, Pia of Chartres, has been kidnapped! But her overeager ogre captors don't want her on the menu – they want her famous Crème de la Crumb for the annual ogre feast. When pixies crash the party and an enthusiastic rescue team makes a mess of Pia's pastries, can Sir Cumference and his faithful companions devise a system to make sure everyone gets their "just desserts"? This latest installation in the beloved Sir Cumference series introduces the decimal system with trademark medieval humor and heart. |
“"Here, Father." Decima cut a second batch into ten equal portions. "I've named this size piece a Tenntt, after you." "Thank you, my little sugarplum!" he said. Decima gave the pieces to her two parents and eight other sisters.”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Cindy Neuschwander’s ‘Sir Cumference Gets Decima’s Point’ (2020) is the eleventh title in the Sir Cumference series. It is the first and, so far, the only mathematical story picture book with a focus on decimals. The story follows Camelot’s best baker, Pia of Chartres, who has been kidnapped by an ogre, named Tenntt. The ogre does not want to harm her but they just want Pia to help make her delicious Crème de la Crumb for the annual ogre feast. With enough ingredients to bake only ten batches of the dessert to feed a large number of ogres and one hundred uninvited pixie guests, Pia and her helper, Decima (one of Tenntt’s daughters), have to invent clever ways to make the limited amount of dessert go a long way, including splitting whole pans of the dessert into ten small pieces, named Tenntts in honour of the father orge; into hundred very small pieces, named Hoondrits in honour of the mother orge; and into thousand very very small pieces, named Tousanders in honour of the uninvited pixie. To keeping track of how many Tenntts, Hoondrits and Tousanders of the dessert are left, a system is created whereby a tiny letter p, a shorthand for a whole pan or batch of the dessert, is used, so 1p1 means one whole pan and a tenth of the pan. The story goes on to explain that over time the letter p looks more like a dot: 1.1. Learning about decimals can be a confusing and frustrating experience for many children. Learning it through a fun and engaging story picture book like ‘Sir Cumference Gets Decima’s Point’ can help to make that learning experience less daunting. We have nothing but praises for Cindy for being so creative and brave enough to turn a very abstract concept likes decimals into a mathematical story. Kudos for Wayne Geehan, the illustrator, for illustrating thousand Tounsanders! As this is quite an action-packed and fast-paced story, teachers and parents may want to pause every now and then to ensure that the children are still following the story and the mathematical thinking behind it. All in all, ‘Sir Cumference Gets Decima’s Point’ is a very useful story picture book for teachers and parents to help either introduce or reinforce the concept of decimals (and place value) to children aged 7+ years old. If you like this story by Cindy, you will also like other titles in her Sir Cumference series. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author.)
Recommended age range:
7+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Decimal; Place value
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.
Cindy Neuschwander’s ‘Sir Cumference Gets Decima’s Point’ (2020) is the eleventh title in the Sir Cumference series. It is the first and, so far, the only mathematical story picture book with a focus on decimals. The story follows Camelot’s best baker, Pia of Chartres, who has been kidnapped by an ogre, named Tenntt. The ogre does not want to harm her but they just want Pia to help make her delicious Crème de la Crumb for the annual ogre feast. With enough ingredients to bake only ten batches of the dessert to feed a large number of ogres and one hundred uninvited pixie guests, Pia and her helper, Decima (one of Tenntt’s daughters), have to invent clever ways to make the limited amount of dessert go a long way, including splitting whole pans of the dessert into ten small pieces, named Tenntts in honour of the father orge; into hundred very small pieces, named Hoondrits in honour of the mother orge; and into thousand very very small pieces, named Tousanders in honour of the uninvited pixie. To keeping track of how many Tenntts, Hoondrits and Tousanders of the dessert are left, a system is created whereby a tiny letter p, a shorthand for a whole pan or batch of the dessert, is used, so 1p1 means one whole pan and a tenth of the pan. The story goes on to explain that over time the letter p looks more like a dot: 1.1. Learning about decimals can be a confusing and frustrating experience for many children. Learning it through a fun and engaging story picture book like ‘Sir Cumference Gets Decima’s Point’ can help to make that learning experience less daunting. We have nothing but praises for Cindy for being so creative and brave enough to turn a very abstract concept likes decimals into a mathematical story. Kudos for Wayne Geehan, the illustrator, for illustrating thousand Tounsanders! As this is quite an action-packed and fast-paced story, teachers and parents may want to pause every now and then to ensure that the children are still following the story and the mathematical thinking behind it. All in all, ‘Sir Cumference Gets Decima’s Point’ is a very useful story picture book for teachers and parents to help either introduce or reinforce the concept of decimals (and place value) to children aged 7+ years old. If you like this story by Cindy, you will also like other titles in her Sir Cumference series. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author.)
Recommended age range:
7+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Decimal; Place value
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.
