THE BIG HAIRY MONSTER
Author: Seon-hye Jang
Illustrator: Min-oh Choi
|
Number of pages: 34
Publisher: big & SMALL Publishing (Australia) 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
The Big Hairy Monster is lonely. When winter comes, freezing the earth, the animals in the forest search for warm shelter. Two bears, three wild boars, four deer and so on up to ten field mice, all find warm hollows in a hill of snow. When spring comes, they are surprised to see where they have sheltered and found warmth. |
“Ten field mice, their tails stiff with ice, found a hole in a valley of snow. "Let's stay here and get warm".”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Seon-hye Jang’s ‘The Big Hairy Monster’ 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 is about a big hairy monster who is all by himself. The winter comes and other animals in the woods begin to notice that the monster is nowhere to be seen. Throughout the story, different numbers of different animals are shown to be taking refuge from the cold air in a big heap of snow (e.g. two bears, three wild boars, four deer, and ten mice). Once the snow begins to melt, the animals soon realise where the big hairy monster has been throughout the winter. While the storyline is somewhat weak, the story can be useful to show very young children visually the quantities from 1 to 10. All in all, ‘The Big Hairy Monster’ provides a light-hearted context for children aged 4+ years old to practise counting from 1 to 10.
Recommended age range:
4 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
Counting forwards to and backwards from 10/20
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 ‘The Big Hairy Monster’ 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 is about a big hairy monster who is all by himself. The winter comes and other animals in the woods begin to notice that the monster is nowhere to be seen. Throughout the story, different numbers of different animals are shown to be taking refuge from the cold air in a big heap of snow (e.g. two bears, three wild boars, four deer, and ten mice). Once the snow begins to melt, the animals soon realise where the big hairy monster has been throughout the winter. While the storyline is somewhat weak, the story can be useful to show very young children visually the quantities from 1 to 10. All in all, ‘The Big Hairy Monster’ provides a light-hearted context for children aged 4+ years old to practise counting from 1 to 10.
Recommended age range:
4 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
Counting forwards to and backwards from 10/20
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.
