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

by David A. Adler, Edward Miller

Readers are invited to the premiere of a 3-D movie. The star-studded cast of monsters will help them calculate the perimeter of the set, the area of the movie screen, and the volume of their popcorn box. Learning about dimensions has never been so entertaining.

Genres: Mathematics, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Childrens, Monsters, Geometry, Science

32 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

David Abraham Adler is an American children's author. He was born in New York City, New York in 1947. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.

Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.

Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.

As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring illustrations and a pointless "monster" theme. But it gets worse.

"Perimeter and circumference are the distances around one-dimensional shapes." Wrong. This should say "two-dimensional." Perimeter and circumference *themselves* are one-dimensional measures, but what they go *around* HAS to be two-dimensional. Can you have a one-dimensional circle? Nope.

The colophon credits Grace Wilkie, past president of the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State, etc. etc. for reviewing the book for accuracy. Sorry, Grace, you failed.

[Michelle Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
A fun way to introduce or review the concepts of area, perimeter and volume. The story wasn't super engaging, but the pictures did a good job of demonstrating thr math concepts and my kids enjoyed it. It wasn't my favorite math picture book, but is one I wouldn't mind re-reading with students in the future.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presenting monster movie stars in all of their 3-D glory. Adler's newest math book focused on dimensions quickly captures the reader's attention and imagination. Adler makes this subject completely accessible and engaging for students and teachers alike, and it can serve as a great introduction or review in classrooms. In addition, it would be great to use to integrate math content into the library.

[Ems Loves to Read · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Learning about dimensions has never been so entertaining.” False. My fourth graders were bored nearly to tears by this book.

[Children's Literature Centre at FSU · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is jammed pack with mathematical informational galore, but the illustrations and characters make it a fun read! If you have a visual learner, this book is especially wonderful due to the graphics and representations of the monster characters compared to mathematical terms and equations. Another wonderful feature of this book is that it is aligned with Common Core standards for third-grade, fourth-grade, and fifth-grade mathematics in measurement and data. The story is set around a group of monsters spending an evening at a 3-D movie set. Throughout the story, they calculate the perimeter, area, volume, circumference, length, width, depth and so much more. Each page depicts a mathematical term with text features that helps draw the reader in. The mathematical
term is in bold, there are captions to accompany equations for further explanation, and definitions are given for each term given. This is the perfect informational text to help assist in teaching these standards and allowing students to see how fun-filled informational texts can be!
Review written by Melissa Shank

[Margaret Boling · Rating 3 out of 5]

10/29/2022 ~ This book is didactic, in that it was written explicitly to teach concepts. There is no plot or dialogue, so it's not really fiction; however, the colorful illustrations and monsters make the book visually appealing. In addition, the concepts are taught in the context of the monsters' life experiences and needs.

I would not attempt to read this book in a single sitting. However, it could be used at both the beginning and end of a math unit to help students wrap their heads around the purposes for each type of measurement.

I read this book today to evaluate whether or not to include it as a supplement to our elementary math curriculum.

[Mary Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book students are invited to experience math in a fun way . They get to calculate perimeter, area, and the volume of objects such as a popcorn box. I think this would be a great way to get kids to like math. Sometimes it can get so boring and I really believe they would enjoy this book. David Adler is GREAT!

[Dawn Laws · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a story line of a fun monsters while teaching about perimeter, area and volume.

I rated this 5/5 because it is a fun book for kids to read or a read a loud that is loaded with colorful illustrations while teaching math concepts.

[Reagan Fulton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was innovative and a fun way to introduce dimensions to kids, but I wish it was a little more interesting. I didn't feel like it drew my attention right away, and some parts were too wordy for kids to really understand these math concepts.

[Della Tingle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This colorful book is an introduction on a 4th grade level to perimeter, circumference, area, volume, and one, two, and three dimensions. This would be fun to incorporate into math class, especially as a break from today’s all too popular scripted math lessons that are sweeping the country.

[Christina Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Clear descriptions and great illustrations. Absolutely loved it.

[Reagan Wilkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took a difficult subject for some children and made it into a fun and engaging story.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good story, but it’s all in imperial and of course we use metric.

[Dannita Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know that this would be necessarily considered a nonfiction book, but it definitely is informational so I thought it would fit.

As a math teacher, I am always interested in picturebooks that help reinforce math standards. I also like to incorporate writing into my math class, therefore, this book is a great fit. I would recommend it, whether it is for a minilesson, guided practice, review, or an independent project for the students.

Perimeter, Area, and Volume is a great picture book for students to learn, research, or reinforce the concepts of perimeter, area, and volume. I enjoyed this book because the illustrations are engaging, but also because there is lots of information and examples for these math concepts. Students could utilize these books to complete a writing activity based on the learning concepts. This book could also be utilized for the math vocabulary that it provides.

This book does a great job of presenting volume as a concept that is related to 3 dimensional objects. Similarly, are and perimeter are illustrated with real world examples, such as, fences, etc. This real world connection also helps students to understand what math concepts they are learning and how they can be applied to their everyday lives.

[Madeline Bergstrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book features a bunch of monsters going through their day (in a film) and coming across the need to complete math equations based on the ideas of object measurements like those specified in the title. I enjoyed the vibrant illustrations found in this book, which is surprising, because I would normally find them to be a bit distracting. I think that they added a layer of interest to the text that the math concepts alone would not contain. I also found that the text was presented in a clear manner that allowed readers to see the equation formations as well as appreciating the storyline for what it was. I have found that these plot lines can be a little distracting to the math lessons, and this was a mild case of such detours, yet overall seemed to blend very well with the math lesson presented. I would like to use this in my future classroom as a basis for learning, by pulling out the math equations to be further explored by the class independent from the text.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining book that incorporates a math lesson into the narrative. It's not as seamless as other books we've read, but we liked solving the problems and discussing the concepts as we read the book together. I liked the explanation of two dimensional objects versus three dimensional objects.

The story itself is a bit strange, but the monsters are very colorful and cartoonish. The narrative is fun to read aloud and we enjoyed reading this book together.

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a bit too fact-heavy for the four year old I watch, but the six year old loved it. He had me stop reading after every page so I could fully explain the new concepts to him. This book taught him all about geometric measurements (not sure how else to phrase everything in this book!) and also opened up a discussion about division. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to encourage an interest in math!

[Kaycie Fletcher]

In this book about math they are using a 3D movie screen premiere and they need help deciding on the perimeter and area and volume of the screen. This is awesome because it uses a real world problem rather than just teaching a concept. I love that! It will start kids off understanding math rather than just knowing about it. I would love to use book stop teach math and other difficult topics.

[Karley]

Great book to use with upper elementary students. This book is full of vocabulary with definitions and images. It also, includes a list of conversions. I love that Adler use real life examples when explaining the concepts discussed in the book.

[Sharlynn Boersma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does a pretty good job introducing these mathematical concepts. It can be a good way to review these concepts. These concepts do get a little complex so it could be helpful to some students but confusing to others.

[Colby Sharp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a great addition to my fourth grade library.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Adler has several math books that are good classroom resources. This is a good addition to the collection. Helpful when teaching 3-D, perimeter, area and volume.

[Tammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

David alder-cam Jansen
Good resource or 3d ojects
Real life example

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the style and setting of this story. Being set in a theater and teaching dimensions was very clever. I feel that this book develops length, width, height, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd dimension.

[Rosanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, and I was hoping to use it in math. It is a little beyond 3rd grade, but I may use it for upper grades

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

AR Quiz No. 149749 EN Nonfiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 4.3 - AR Pts: 0.5

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Straightforward explanation of perimeter, area and volume using monster illustrations and the book in your hand. My seven-year-old told me I "had" to read it.

Deal.