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MathStart Level 2
Bigger, Better, Best!: A Fun MathStart Picture Book About Area and Geometry for Kids
“Kids, young and old, fall in love with math when they see how real-life and effortless it becomes thanks to these books.” —Kimberly D. Mueller, Ed.D., First Grade Teacher, Ashbrook School, Lumberton NJ Bigger, Better, Best! is perfect for teaching area to first, second, and third graders. In their family's new house, Jenny and Jeff are driving their little sister, Jill, crazy. Who has the bigger window? Who has the bigger bedroom? Jenny and Jeff must use a simple geometry concept to calculate area in order to prove once and for all whose room is bigger. Kids will love the story and the illustrations by Marsha Winborn. Parents and educators will love how the story and pictures make understanding the math concepts a breeze—as well as the concrete examples of how math works. The book contains activities for adults to do with kids to extend math into their own lives. Math skills are life skills, and the MathStart series supports success! MathStart's unique combination of stories, illustrations, and visual models helps teachers and parents in the teaching of math and provides all children with the opportunity to succeed. The math concepts taught in MathStart books conform to state and national standards. Level 1 is Pre-K–Kindergarten; Level 2 is Grades 1–3; Level 3 is Grades 2–4. The series follows math topics across grades so there is a foundational path to learning that runs through the levels. Help kids with their math skills plus their reading skills with the engaging and fun MathStart series!
40 pages, Paperback
First published August 20, 2002
43 people want to read
About the author
Stuart J. Murphy
166 books60 followersPICTURES & WORDS, STORIES & BOOKS
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com
I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.
I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.
I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.
MATHSTART
The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.
The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.
Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )
THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL
Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”
STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN
My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.
I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.
Each book is reviewed by a tea
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com
I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.
I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.
I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.
MATHSTART
The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.
The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.
Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )
THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL
Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”
STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN
My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.
I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.
Each book is reviewed by a tea
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 1, 2025
This picture book discusses area, and compares the children’s bedroom windows and floors.
August 28, 2008
Bigger, Better, Best is a math concept book that introduces the concept of area. I think this book would be appropriate for second or third graders.
This story is about a family of three children, Jill, Jenny, and Jeff. Jeff and Jenny always argue about who has the best of everything. The family moves into a new house; both Jenny and Jeff believe they have the biggest and best rooms. In order to see who has the best room, they each find the area of their windows to see which is larger. They are the same. Then they decide to find the area of their floors. After measuring, Jenny and Jeff realize their floors are the same as well. After all of the measuring took place, Jill announced that her room was in fact the best because it was not close to Jenny and Jeff's rooms.
Activities:
1. To further expand upon the concept of area, the students should get into groups and find the area of their classroom, the hallway, the teachers desk, their desks, etc. This book can be used both for a language arts lesson and a math lesson.
2. Have the students predict which room in their house has the greatest area. After making their predictions, the students should use paper, like Jeff and Jenny did in the story, to find the area of different rooms in their house. The student should determine which room is big, bigger, and the biggest.
This story is about a family of three children, Jill, Jenny, and Jeff. Jeff and Jenny always argue about who has the best of everything. The family moves into a new house; both Jenny and Jeff believe they have the biggest and best rooms. In order to see who has the best room, they each find the area of their windows to see which is larger. They are the same. Then they decide to find the area of their floors. After measuring, Jenny and Jeff realize their floors are the same as well. After all of the measuring took place, Jill announced that her room was in fact the best because it was not close to Jenny and Jeff's rooms.
Activities:
1. To further expand upon the concept of area, the students should get into groups and find the area of their classroom, the hallway, the teachers desk, their desks, etc. This book can be used both for a language arts lesson and a math lesson.
2. Have the students predict which room in their house has the greatest area. After making their predictions, the students should use paper, like Jeff and Jenny did in the story, to find the area of different rooms in their house. The student should determine which room is big, bigger, and the biggest.
April 14, 2012
This book offers a fun approach to geometry. The siblings in the story always argue about whose stuff is bigger and better, so their parents encourage them to use area to find out who has a bigger room, window, etc. The non traditional approach to area seen in this story can help students get a better understanding of what area actually means and how it can be applied to their lives. As with his other books, Stuart J. Murphy includes suggested activities in the back that could be used in a classroom. I think this book could be used in 2nd-5th grade, depending on whether it is being used as an introduction to area or a review of the concept.
March 26, 2012
When siblings Jill, Jenny, and Jeff move into a new house they all think they have the biggest and best room. In order to find out who really has the biggest room, they use geometry and measuring to find the area of each room. This story does a great job of making a somewhat challenging concept into something fun, easy to understand, and relatable. This book would be best suited for grades kindergarten through third. A great follow up lesson would be to have the students measure the area of two classrooms and see which is bigger.
Want to read
February 17, 2016As you read have the students count the number of pieces of paper to cover the windows and the floor in the illustrations. Have the students draw a shape on a piece of graph paper. Count the squares inside the shape to find the area. Draw a different shape with the same area.
July 25, 2008
Not only teaches the math principle of area (they use sheets of paper to cover windows and floors to see which are bigger), but also shows siblings fighting and learning to get along better.
October 23, 2015
I loved itt!!
Read
October 21, 2010great book for introducing math concepts that deal with measuring this book focuses moreso on area.
April 15, 2012
This book is great for a lesson on area. The family is moving and they have to find area to see whose room is bigger. Jill shows another lesson that bigger isn't always better
April 11, 2013
This book teaches geometry and area. Students can compare items by their area. For an activity, students can compare small and large items in the classroom.
March 12, 2015
These siblings fights are something I know well. This book accurately portrays a family that moves and the discussions that ensue about area.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews