THE BLAST OFF KID
Author: Laura Driscoll
Illustrator: Rebecca Thornburgh
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Number of pages: 31
Publisher: Kane Press (USA) First published in: 2003 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (Math Matters) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
For a chance to win a trip to Space Camp, James sets out to collect 10,000 Blast Off Energy Bar wrappers, grouping them as he goes to make counting easier, and soon the whole town is helping him out. |
“When they were done, they had filled six trash bags. They also had three grocery bags, five bundles and four loose wrappers. "That's 6,354 wrappers!" Jim said.”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
While Laura Driscoll’s ‘The Blast Off Kid’ (2003) was published over a decade ago, this Kane Press’s Math Matters title is still as engaging and useful to introduce the concept of place value today as it was then. The story follows Jim (or ‘James’ according to the blurb), who sets out to collect 10,000 Blast Off Energy Bar wrappers for a chance to win a trip to Space Camp. As more and more wrappers begin to get sent to him from his friends and folks from the neighbourhood, Jim needs to find an effective way to help him count without losing track. His solution is ingenious, and it involves some paper clips, grocery bags and trash bags! The illustrations by Rebecca Thornburgh have a nostalgic feel to them. The mathematical visualisation is accurate and useful. While the overall cast of characters is relatively diverse, the protagonist is white and male, who lives in a nice detached house with both of his parents. It would have been wonderful to show to readers who are, for example, young girls of ethnic minorities from a working class family, a character that they can associate with that has a STEM-related aspiration (i.e. going to a space camp). As with other titles in the Math Matters series, useful teaching activity ideas are offered at the back. All in all, we highly recommend ‘The Blast Off Kid’. Recommended for children aged 7+ years old.
Recommended age range:
7 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
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.
While Laura Driscoll’s ‘The Blast Off Kid’ (2003) was published over a decade ago, this Kane Press’s Math Matters title is still as engaging and useful to introduce the concept of place value today as it was then. The story follows Jim (or ‘James’ according to the blurb), who sets out to collect 10,000 Blast Off Energy Bar wrappers for a chance to win a trip to Space Camp. As more and more wrappers begin to get sent to him from his friends and folks from the neighbourhood, Jim needs to find an effective way to help him count without losing track. His solution is ingenious, and it involves some paper clips, grocery bags and trash bags! The illustrations by Rebecca Thornburgh have a nostalgic feel to them. The mathematical visualisation is accurate and useful. While the overall cast of characters is relatively diverse, the protagonist is white and male, who lives in a nice detached house with both of his parents. It would have been wonderful to show to readers who are, for example, young girls of ethnic minorities from a working class family, a character that they can associate with that has a STEM-related aspiration (i.e. going to a space camp). As with other titles in the Math Matters series, useful teaching activity ideas are offered at the back. All in all, we highly recommend ‘The Blast Off Kid’. Recommended for children aged 7+ years old.
Recommended age range:
7 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
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.
