WHAT HAPPENED AT WIZARD SCHOOL
Author: Cecil Kim
Illustrator: Joo-yoon Lee
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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
Bong Bong gets an sick. He must find ten symmetric objects in order to cure his illness. Learn with Bong Bong as he discovers symmetry in different things such as the school building, crystal ball and frogs. Elementary math concepts that relate to space, shape and symmetry highlight a rollicking tale about the misadventures of a resourceful wizard. |
“Everybody was staring at me again. I was worried but then I noticed something interesting. The school building was symmetrical. "Aha!" I said. "The first symmetrical thing I found is our school."”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Cecil Kim’s ‘What Happened Wizard School’ 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 Bong-Bong, a young wizard who wakes up one morning to find one side of his body not symmetrical to the other side of his body (“a bad case of a mismatch disease”). According to the wizard doctor, the cure is to find ten different symmetrical things. Throughout the story, Bong-Bong discovers that, in fact, there are several symmetrical things all around him (e.g. symmetrical buildings, symmetrical leaves and symmetrical paintings, etc.). Mathematically speaking, the story does a good job in introducing to young children the concept of symmetry and to highlight that symmetry can be found in their everyday life. That said, the use of this condition as a focus of the story and its portrayal (“how could I go to her party looking like a clown instead of a wizard?”) can arguably be insensitive to some, if not many. 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, ‘What Happened Wizard School’ is a good story to introduce the concept of symmetry to children aged 5+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
5+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Symmetry
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.
Cecil Kim’s ‘What Happened Wizard School’ 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 Bong-Bong, a young wizard who wakes up one morning to find one side of his body not symmetrical to the other side of his body (“a bad case of a mismatch disease”). According to the wizard doctor, the cure is to find ten different symmetrical things. Throughout the story, Bong-Bong discovers that, in fact, there are several symmetrical things all around him (e.g. symmetrical buildings, symmetrical leaves and symmetrical paintings, etc.). Mathematically speaking, the story does a good job in introducing to young children the concept of symmetry and to highlight that symmetry can be found in their everyday life. That said, the use of this condition as a focus of the story and its portrayal (“how could I go to her party looking like a clown instead of a wizard?”) can arguably be insensitive to some, if not many. 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, ‘What Happened Wizard School’ is a good story to introduce the concept of symmetry to children aged 5+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
5+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Symmetry
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.
