THE PRINCESS IS COMING TO TOWN
Author: Young-so Yu
Illustrator: So-hyun Park
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Number of pages: 36
Publisher: TanTan Publishing 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 village is getting ready for the princess to arrive. They prepare a bigger mirror, a bigger carpet etc. But which one is bigger? Using a towel and tray, the villagers compare the area of objects. Elementary math concepts that relate to space, shape and symmetry highlight a rollicking tale about the misadventures of a resourceful wizard. |
“Grandfather laid the handkerchiefs on one mirror at a time. It took four handkerchiefs to cover the first mirror. It took three handkerchiefs to cover the second mirror. It took four handkerchiefs to cover the third mirror. "The bigger the mirrors, the more handkerchiefs we need," Grandfather explained.”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Young-so Yu’s ‘The Princess is Coming to Town’ 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 a group of townspeople who work hard to prepare a welcome for a princess who is apparently travelling to their town. Wanting to impress the princess, only the best and biggest furniture items will be chosen for the princess to use during her stay. To help compare which furniture item is the biggest, non-standard measurement units like identical cushions, handkerchiefs, trays and towels are used to measure the surface areas of beds, mirrors tables and rugs respectively. The story does a great job in providing a meaningful context for children to recognise non-standard measurement units, and how they can be used to work out surface areas. 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, ‘The Princess is Coming to Town’ is a great story to introduce the concept of area measurement and size comparison for children aged 7+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
7+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Area & Perimeter; Measurement Comparison
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.
Young-so Yu’s ‘The Princess is Coming to Town’ 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 a group of townspeople who work hard to prepare a welcome for a princess who is apparently travelling to their town. Wanting to impress the princess, only the best and biggest furniture items will be chosen for the princess to use during her stay. To help compare which furniture item is the biggest, non-standard measurement units like identical cushions, handkerchiefs, trays and towels are used to measure the surface areas of beds, mirrors tables and rugs respectively. The story does a great job in providing a meaningful context for children to recognise non-standard measurement units, and how they can be used to work out surface areas. 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, ‘The Princess is Coming to Town’ is a great story to introduce the concept of area measurement and size comparison for children aged 7+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
7+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Area & Perimeter; Measurement Comparison
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.
