WHAT WILL FIT?
Author: Grace Lin
Illustrator: Grace Lin
Number of pages: 14
Publisher: Charlesbridge (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 (Storytelling Math) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
Take a trip to the farmers market in this playful story about spatial sense. Olivia is searching for something just the right size to fill her basket. The apple is so small that it rolls around. The zucchini is so long that it sticks out. What will fit just right? The Storytelling Math series shows that all children can be mathematical thinkers. Each book includes ideas for exploring math at home with your children, developed in collaboration with math experts at STEM education non-profit TERC Inc., under a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation. |
“Days pass. There's a sprout! It's as tall as my toe. More water, more sun, more days. The plant is growing. It's as high as my knees!”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Grace Lin’s ‘What Will Fit?’ (2020) is a part of Charlesbridge’s Storytelling Math series which promotes diversity (e.g., gender and ethnicity) in mathematical stories. This is a small 14-page board book which follows a young girl, Olivia, who is searching for something to fill her basket at a farmers’ market. Having now tried to fit different fruits and vegetables in the basket, Olivia discovers what is too small, too long, too tall or not big or wide enough – a perfect way to expose very young readers to mathematical language about measurement comparison. The story has a very simple storyline which is arguably appropriate for the very young readers that the story is meant for. Similarly, the amount of text per page is age-appropriate too. One small observation is that we are not told the character’s name in the story. Her name is only revealed to us on the back cover. This is not a big issue at all, but it would have been nice to give some sense of identity to this young girl, particularly given that the book series is about diversity and identity. Like the other titles in the series, there are also a few activity ideas given at the back of the book. All in all, we recommend ‘What Will Fit?’ to introduce the concept of measurement comparison to children, aged 3+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author.
Recommended age range:
3+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
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.
Grace Lin’s ‘What Will Fit?’ (2020) is a part of Charlesbridge’s Storytelling Math series which promotes diversity (e.g., gender and ethnicity) in mathematical stories. This is a small 14-page board book which follows a young girl, Olivia, who is searching for something to fill her basket at a farmers’ market. Having now tried to fit different fruits and vegetables in the basket, Olivia discovers what is too small, too long, too tall or not big or wide enough – a perfect way to expose very young readers to mathematical language about measurement comparison. The story has a very simple storyline which is arguably appropriate for the very young readers that the story is meant for. Similarly, the amount of text per page is age-appropriate too. One small observation is that we are not told the character’s name in the story. Her name is only revealed to us on the back cover. This is not a big issue at all, but it would have been nice to give some sense of identity to this young girl, particularly given that the book series is about diversity and identity. Like the other titles in the series, there are also a few activity ideas given at the back of the book. All in all, we recommend ‘What Will Fit?’ to introduce the concept of measurement comparison to children, aged 3+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author.
Recommended age range:
3+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
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.