The Queen of Chess : How Judit Polgár Changed the Game by Laurie Wallmark

The Queen of Chess: How Judit Polgár Changed the Game

by Laurie Wallmark; Art by Steve Lewis

Little Bee Books. 2023

Judit Polgár was born on July 23, 1976 in Hungary. From a very young age, she was fascinated by the game of chess. Her parents trained Judit, and her older sisters, Susan and Sofia, to play genius-level chess. Judit excelled. She'd memorize the patterns of pieces in thousands of difficult chess puzzles. 

Can you tell that Judit loved chess. She was a natural, and, a ferocious competitor. 

"By age eight, Judit had won junior tournaments and was beating strong adult players. At age nine, she was ready for a bigger challenge, so the whole family flew to the United States for the girls to compete in the New York Open."

To hone her skills, Judit and her sister, Sofia, played blindfold chess. Blindfold chess is when you don't use a chessboard. You announce your moves aloud and just imagine the position of each piece and calculate its possible moves. 

In this picture book biography, prolific nonfiction writer, Laurie Wallmark brings readers along as she traces this child prodigy who broke barriers and, at age fourteen, became the youngest grandmaster in history. 

The exciting, fast-paced narrative is supported by the artwork of Steve Lewis. The illustrations show a very determined young girl who found such joy in playing chess. Where the adult players are frowning and looking worried, young Judit always has a hidden smile. 

Judit retired from competitive chess in 2014. 

Backmatter includes a timeline and an explanation on the mathematics of chess. The book does not include any source notes or a bibliography for further reading. 

For chess fans everywhere, regardless of their age.

The Brilliant Calculator: How Mathematician Edith Clarke Helped Electrify America by Jan Lower and Susan Reagan

The Brilliant Calculator: How Mathematician Edith Clarke Helped Electrify America
Written by Jan Lower;
Illustrated by Susan Reagan
Calkins Creek. An Imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers. 2023

Edith Clarke was born in 1883, in Howard County, Maryland. From a very young age she devoured anything relating to numbers. She dreamed of building railroads, dams, bridges, and hoped to one day travel the world. In 1908, Edith earned a degree in mathematics and astronomy from Vassar College. Fascinated by electricity, Edith went on to be the first woman to graduate from MIT with a masters of science in electrical engineer. 

After graduating from MIT, Edith went to work at General Electric (GE) Turbine Engineering Department as director of women computors. 

Edith would go on to be the first female hired as an electrical engineer at GE, and patents her creation, the Clarke Calculator.

This picture book biography is a charming and exciting read. Partnered with Reagan's full-page, colorful illustrations, done in watercolor with digital drawings, bring the book to life. Quotes from Clarke are presented throughout.

Included is an author's note, timeline (my favorite addition to any nonfiction title), glossary, short biographies of other women mathematicians, engineers, and inventors, and extensive bibliography.

A great addition to any STEM display.

Infinity: Figuring Out Forever by Sarah C. Campbell

Infinity: Figuring Out Forever
By Sarah C. Campbell; Photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell
Astra Young Readers. An Imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers. 2022

In this informational picture book, husband and wife team, Sarah and Richard Campbell, challenge readers to think deeply about the mathematical concept: “What is infinity?”

“Thinking about infinity is tricky. You have already thought of a large number and added one, but that might lead you to make the mistake of thinking infinity is something really, really big. Remember, though, infinity is not something big. Infinity is endlessness.”

Calculus is the branch of mathematics that puts infinity into practical use. NASA scientists use calculus and the idea of infinity when making the calculations to send rockets into space.

The marriage of words and pictures work exceptionally well here as the Campbell’s present the not-so-simple task of defining the concept of infinity. The book includes an author’s note, glossary, further reading(which includes websites and books), and an exercise - The Infinite School and the Surprising Results of Adding with Infinity.

“The next time you find yourself counting stars in the sky, remember that even though the number of stars is finite, your mind has no limits.”

Highly recommended reading aloud for older students. 

Lines, Bars and Circles by Helaine Becker

Lines, Bars and Circles: How William Playfair Invented Graphs

Written by Helaine Becker; Illustrated by Marie-Eve Tremblay

Kids Can Press. 2017

ISBN: 9781771385701

Becker’s picture book biography celebrates those of us who see the world differently from other people.  The narrative hits the mark for a child audience, and Tremblay’s art, rendered digitally, adds the right touch of humor to the text.

William Playfair was born in Scotland in 1759. He was a dreamer and enjoyed playing tricks on people. “He could be annoying, especially to his sisters and brothers.”  The accompanying illustration shows a frog in the younger sister’s soup.

As he grows, Playfair is trained in the scientific method and excels at math, yet he never stopped dreaming. His hope is to invent something that would make him rich and famous. A prolific author, one day, as a way to organize his information, Playfair creates the first graph: a line graph.“When he wanted to include a second chart that had fewer details, he came up with another good idea: he grouped the information into chunks.” The first bar graph.  With the onset of the French Revolution, Playfair moved to England and, still dreaming of how to represent information in pictures, he creates the first pie chart. 

Did Playfair ever become rich and famous with his discoveries? Nope! Not until more than a hundred years after he died (1823) would his charts be rediscovered and put to use.

The book lacks any bibliography on resources used, but there is an extensive author’s note accompanies the does mention a few of Playfield’s books.

An interesting introduction to inspire dreamers and makers.

FROM THE BACKLIST: The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky

The Librarian Who Measured the Earth

Written by Kathryn Lasky; Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Little, Brown and Company. 1994

ISBN: 0316515264

I am on a crusade to get some really terrific and often overlooked informational picture books into the hands of teachers and parents. These books, read aloud to middle and high school students, could be a gateway for important conversations and growth. 

All ages

More than two thousand years ago, Eratosthenes (AIR-uh-TOS-thuh-neez) lived in the great city of Alexandria. Though he wrote many, many books on a wide range of topics, Eratosthenes is known for his accomplishment of measuring the circumference of the earth. Using camels and plumb lines, he used the angle of shadows to come up with his number that was off by only 200 miles. Quite an amazing achievement without the help of modern technology. 

In her author’s note, Lasky explains that though Eratosthenes gave us many volumes of work, he left behind no personal documents, no diaries, no birth records. Consequently, this spirited narrative is a blend of speculation on what Eratosthenes might have been like growing up, the questions he could have asked, mixed with details about life in Greece at that time.

Some of the questions Lasky imagines: 

How far away is the sun?

Where does the wind come from?

How much of earth is land?

How high is the highest mountain?

How big around was earth?

The story is enhanced by the illustrations, rendered in acrylics, by Kevin Hawkes. Hawkes double page paintings appropriately add a twist of humor to Lasky’s offering of life in Ancient Greece.

Who was Eratosthenes? He was born in 276 BC in Cyrene, a Greek city on the coast of Africa in the country that is now called Libya. He was a man of learning, a lover of lists, was particularly drawn to mathematics and geography. Eratosthenes worked as chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria; his employer was King Ptolemy. 

Back matter includes an afterword, bibliographies both from Lasky and Hawkes.

The Librarian Who Measured the Earth is a book to share with students to show the amazing accomplishments that are waiting to be discovered, and questions waiting to be answered by those possessing a curious mind. A perfect companion for those interested in learning more about mathematicians, scientists, and Ancient Greece.

I borrowed this book from my local public library.

Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature

Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature  
by Sarah C. Campbell
photographs by Sarah C. Campbell
and Richard P. Campbell
Boyds Mill Press, 2014
ISBN: 9781620916278
Grades K-3

The reviewer received a copy of the book from the publisher.

Quality math nonfiction books for K-3 readers are in high demand, and the latest work by Sarah C. Campbell is going to make educators and librarians very happy. This informational picture book told through a series of photographs provides young children with an introduction to the math concept of fractals. Campbell was inspired to write the book after a librarian suggested she turn her attention to fractals. She researched the book by accessing online courses taught by Professor Michael Frame of Yale.

Using numerous photographs, Campbell shows how Benoit Mandelbrot discovered fractals by observing patterns in nature. Fractals have "smaller parts that look like the whole shape." Trees, broccoli, and lightning are examples. The book clearly explains a complex topic in an interesting manner that young children will be able to comprehend.  Children who are inspired by the topic will enjoy the page near the end which shows readers how to create their own geometric fractals.

Pair Mysterious Patterns with Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature or Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature.

The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman

The BOY who LOVED MATH: the improbable life of Paul Erdos
by Deborah Heiligman; Illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Roaring Brook Press. 2013
ISBN: 9781596433076
Grades 3 and up
I borrowed a copy of this book from my local public library.

There once was a boy who loved math.

Despite the fact that he couldn’t sit still, butter his bread or tie his shoes, Paul Erdos eventually grew up to become  1 of the greatest mathematicians who ever lived.

In The Boy Who Loved Math, prolific author, Deborah Heiligman (she’s written 7x4 books) offers a brief look at Erdos, born in Budapest, Hungary just before the start of World War II. A solitary child, Erdos preferred numbers to interacting with children his own age. By age 4, he would compute in his head how many seconds a person had been alive. At age 10, he fell in love with Prime Numbers.

“Paul had a lot of questions about prime numbers.

Do they go on forever?

Is there a pattern to them?

Why is it that the higher up you go,

the farther apart the prime numbers are?

Paul loved to think about prime numbers.”

Erdos was an unusual person. He was brilliant and well-loved by everyone he met. As Heiligman states in her author’s note, as an adult he was very generous with his knowledge. Instead of working alone, Erdos reached out to other math lovers the world over and was happy to share all he knew. Because of his willingness to share, new fields of math were founded and mathematical research, discoveries, and applications multiplied exponentially. Paul demonstrated that math could be fun and social.

The book’s design is very appealing. The overall tone of both text and illustrations is celebratory. Whenever possible, numbers replace words, and the artist LeUyen Pham incorporates equations, graphs, or number groups into the pictures. Pham also includes 3 pages of detailed explanation about the math used in the book. It was a fun book to read.

Pair The Boy Who Loved Math with Jon Scieszka’s Math Curse. Share with students in grades 3 and up, especially middle and high school math classes. I believe they will appreciate the humor and information. You can also find many videos with Erdos on YouTube. Heiligman recommends N is a Number. They are fun to watch because you do see that he had a great sense of humor, which Heiligman and Pham convey perfectly. 

Children often find math intimidating. To help students see that math can be fun, use the mathematical questions written by Laura Bilodeau Overdeck available for free on her website, Bedtime Math. 

Perimeter, Area, and Volume: A Monster Book of Dimensions

Perimeter, Area, and Volume: A Monster Book of Dimensions
by David A. Adler
illustrated by Edward Miller
Holiday House, 2012
ISBN: 9780823422906
Gr. 2-4


The reviewer received a copy of the book from the publisher.

David A. Adler and Edward Miller, the creators of Mystery Math: A First Book of Algebra, have returned. This time the duo takes on dimensions using characters kids will love...monsters. The setting is a monster movie, and the lovable and goofy monster characters from Monsters in the Neighborhood demonstrate length, width, and depth to young readers. Adler begins with basics and moves to the more complex concept of three-dimensional objects using movie screens, popcorn boxes and monster raincoats as examples. Adults will appreciate the reference to Singing in the Rain as monsters sporting raincoats and umbrellas line the sidewalk outside the theater.


Children will be amused by the humorous illustrations especially the pages showing purple, pink and green monsters adorning 3-D glasses in a movie theater. Teachers may want to read aloud this nonfiction picture book to math classes as a way to introduce or reinforce the concepts of area, perimeter and volume. The book will also be a hit with children looking for an independent read.

Seeing Symmetry by Loreen Leedy

Seeing Symmetry
by Loreen Leedy
Holiday House, 2012
ISBN: 9780823423606
(Gr. 2-5)

The reviewer received a copy of the book from the publisher.

Not many math picture books are published each year, so I was excited to see Loreen Leedy's new book about symmetry. Leedy is known for writing excellent nonfiction picture books such as Mapping Penny's World, Measuring Penny, and Follow the Money.

Seeing Symmetry introduces young readers to the concept of symmetry through colorful illustrations of animals, letters, buildings, and other familiar objects. The illustrations were created using Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Captions and labels effectively point out the symmetry in each illustration. Leedy begins with the basic definition of symmetry and progresses to more complex concepts such as vertical symmetry, horizontal symmetry, and rotational symmetry. Children will enjoy trying to answer the questions posed throughout the book. On one page showing various words in different color fonts, readers are asked: "How many of these words have a horizontal line of symmetry?"

According to the notes on the copyright page, the book "meets the Common Core State Standards for fourth-grade mathematics in geometry: identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of symmetry." A glossary in the back of the book defines the math terms used in the book. An author's note points out several animals in nature that are not symmetrical (conch, narwhal, flounder, etc...). Leedy also provides readers with symmetry activities to try at home using paper and paint.

Teachers will find Leedy's latest book invaluable in introducing and reinforcing the concept of symmetry while children will have a blast exploring the book and looking for symmetry in the world around them.

                                           Seeing Symmetry Book Trailer

Mystery Math: A First Book of Algebra by David A. Adler

Mystery Math: A First Book of Algebra
by David A. Adler
illustrated by Edward Miller
Holiday House, 2011
ISBN: 9780823422890
The reviewer received a review copy of the book from the Southern Maine Library District's examination collection.

Being a CYBILS judge has brought a number of books to my attention that I might have missed. One of those books nominated in the nonfiction picture book category if perfect for today.



Kids love Halloween! What’s not to love? There's candy corn, costumes, jack-o-lanterns, and scary stories. David Adler’s has a new nonfiction picture book just in time for Halloween. Set in a haunted house, Mystery Math: A First Book of Algebra follows Mandy and Bill as they encounter algebraic equations involving ravens, bats, black cats and skeletons. Igor, the caretaker of the haunted house, provides tips to help the children solve each problem. Adler uses the example of a seesaw to represent an equation showing readers that each side must be balanced. New concepts are described in an kid-friendly language that makes algebraic concepts such as “mystery number” and “variable” accessible to young readers.

Miller’s deep blue, dark green, and black illustrations are perfect for the story and the Halloween theme. The goofy expressions on the skeletons’ faces and large eyes on the birds and cats make the “spooky” story non-threatening to youngsters. Directions are provided in the back for how to make your own scale using a coat hanger.

Mystery Math will attract kids looking for a good Halloween story, and teachers will be want to share it as a read aloud in math classes.

Other Math Books by David Adler and Edward Miller
Money Madness
Fun with Roman Numerals
Time Zones
Working with Fractions