The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat

by Theoni Pappas

Penrose, a cat with a knack for math, takes children on an adventurous tour of mathematical concepts from fractals to infinity.

Genres: Mathematics, Childrens, Nonfiction, Animals, 2nd Grade, Science, School

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Theoni Pappas is committed to giving mathematics greater exposure and making it more approachable. Pappas encourages mathematics teachers to share and develop new teaching ideas, methods, and approaches. Her gift to the Mathematics Education Trust (MET) helps teachers in grades 9—12 develop mathematics enrichment materials and lessons complementing a teaching unit implemented in the classroom.

Currently, Pappas is a mathematics educator and consultant. She received her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and her M.A. from Stanford University. She became a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in 1967, when she began teaching high school mathematics. Over the years, she has taught basic math, prealgebra, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, precalculus, and calculus.

Through her studies and research, Pappas has developed products that address mathematical ideas, and she has written numerous books, both for the general public and for educational audiences. Her books include More Joy of Mathematics; The Joy of Mathematics; Mathematics Appreciation; Math Talk; Greek Cooking for Everyone; Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales; Mathematical Footprints; The Magic of Mathematics; Math-A-Day; The Music of Reason; Mathematical Scandals; The Adventures of Penrose–the Mathematical Cat; and Math for Kids & Other People Too!
from http://www.nctm.org/resources/content...

Reviews

[Manik Sukoco · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful book that introduces youngsters to mathematical concepts in a fun, painless way. Simple and interesting activities are included after each short story based on an adventure of the author's cat that include the abacus, binary system, fractals, origami, bubbles, triangles and more.
This book is an excellent way for mathphobic adults to explore math with their children and learn right along with them!

[Shayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun ideas, fun premise, but sloppy writing and sloppy presentation of the math. Maybe this is the ebook version, but e.g. having wrong numbers in the Pascal triangle is harmful to the fun and understanding the book is trying to cultivate, and the constantly waffling first-person/third-person voice is annoying.

[Ashley Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to math concepts from tessellates, fractals square roots, impossible images. A lot of good stuff about math with short chapters and fun games at the end of each chapter. My one complaint is that the chapters are so short that it’s like Penrose the cat looked at ‘math concept’ then the math concept is explained in lecture style. Idk if it could be made more fun tho. I’ll definitely read these to Ollie in a few more years.

[Janhmmn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Home education in our house tends to consist of a big pile of books that we read a bit out of at a time. This one has been in the pile for a while and we've worked through it and learned some interesting things about maths and numbers. Some geometrical like tangrams, tesselations and penrose tiles, some more numerical such as the fibonacci series and magic squares.

[Tâm Hải · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mình được chị cho quyển này hồi lớp 4 hay 5 gì đó và nó có ý nghĩa rất lớn đối với mình trong con đường học Toán. Cảm ơn tác giả rất nhiều vì đã cho mình đọc một tác phẩm dễ hiểu và gần gũi với tuổi thơ.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book is written from the perspective of a cat as its curiosity has it exploring some basic mathematics concepts.

If you aren't a math person, this book probably isn't for you.

[Audra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute idea. Interesting content. The intended audience is a little, erm, furry. If it's intended for little kids, it should have more pictures and more color. If it's intended for bigger kids, the writing is too little-kiddish. But, a cute book, all around.

[Dave Baird]

With such a colorful cover, I was dismayed when I opened to find this to be a one-color printing... in purple. For elementary school libraries that makes it more affordable to share it with children.

This book is a wonderful collection of brief introductions to various well known visual math exercises and some interesting math discoveries. All well explained for the intended audience. I absolutely love how geometry is used to describe real life things and remark on nature's precision and beauty.

If you're an elementary school teacher, give it a quick flip through for possible ideas for a math lesson.

[Vicki Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penrose the cat lives with his mistress, who writes about math. Being a cat, he's curious about what she's working on. The stories are all short with lots of pictures. It's hard to know what ages this would appeal to. It starts off with binary numbers, goes on to square roots and irrational numbers, magic squares, the Fibonacci series, many other topics. There are quizzes at the end of most stories, with answers at the end. The only disappointing thing was the monochrome purple text and pictures.

[H. Givens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for very young math-ers, not addition and subtraction and that kind of thing, but could be a good educational tool for more advanced concepts like infinity, real numbers, fractals, how an abacus works, number grids, binary, etc. Each concept has a little story about the numbers explaining themselves to Penrose, and then there's usually a little game or exercise with answers at the back of the book.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can we make math available to everyone? Try Penrose's adventures and you will see. This is not for younger children. Adults can even appreciate these math concepts in a different light. Parents should remember these books about Penrose exist. LOL. (May be wrong, preschoolers do like this book, too. . .Amazingly.)

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie has been going through this book and learning all sorts of new mathematical terms and concepts. I think I need to read it with her. Sometimes she brings up things she learned in it and I don't even know what it is.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real mathematics. Just as fascinating to me as to my 8-yo daughter. Each story/topic is 2 or 3 pages long.
Includes:
"Penrose discovers the mathematics of soap bubbles"
"Penrose meets the fractal dragon"
"Penrose discovers pancake world"
"Penrose sees the invisible nanoworld"

and much more!

[Trever · Rating 5 out of 5]

The books are good for students, they can easily read through the material and be able to complete the small in-text challenges. Wonderful book for math teachers to have.

Some are better than others though.

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute and engaging stories. Sometimes offered a little bit on the complex side. But rates up there close to the "Life of Fred" series. The mathematical topics range from the very simple to the more sophisticated. But a great introduction for the young and a fun twist for the older child.

[Mary Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun and cute way to look at different ideas in math. Each topic has a short story and activities to go along with it. Some were great, others not, but it is easy to pick and choose which topics to look at.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know I said I did not like the other one but this one got a better rating so I might try it out. Also, it's the first one and the first ones are usually the best.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

a clever and fun introduction to many of the coolest mathematical concepts. really enjoyed this short book.

[Rainier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for people with pet (or stuffed or toy)
Cats, ocelots, oncillas, maragays, or any type of cat or cat related species.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not impressed with the presentations, but do like the activities associated with the ideas presented.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

It tickled my mathematical fancy.

[Caryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's so clever, maybe a little too clever but it does the job. My kid likes it too.