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MathStart: Level 3 #14
The Grizzly Gazette: An Award-Winning MathStart Story About Percentages and Elections for Kids
It's the last week of Camp Grizzly, and the campers are preparing to elect a mascot. Each day the Grizzly Gazette takes a poll to see who has the biggest percentage of the vote so far. Is it Sophie? Is it Daniel? Or could it be Corey, the new entry in the race?
Corey's determined to do her best. But she's got to make up for lost time. Can she win out over Daniel and Sophie? No one will know for sure until the last vote is counted!
A lively story about summer camp fun will help young readers understand both percentage and voting!
A Level 3 MathStart book about percentages.
Corey's determined to do her best. But she's got to make up for lost time. Can she win out over Daniel and Sophie? No one will know for sure until the last vote is counted!
A lively story about summer camp fun will help young readers understand both percentage and voting!
A Level 3 MathStart book about percentages.
40 pages, Paperback
First published December 24, 2002
22 people want to read
About the author
Stuart J. Murphy
163 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 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 26, 2024
What a clever, engaging story has been created by author Stuart J. Murphy! It's suspenseful, even.
In the background, young readers learn about how voting works, plus they learn concepts about percentages. Awesome!
Campers at Camp Grizzly have the chance to elect a mascot.
Each day the camp newspaper, The Grizzly Gazette, takes a poll. Which contender is winning the biggest percentage of the vote so far?
Mascot competitors are Sophie, Daniel, and Corey. Who will win?
FIVE STARS for a lively tale, with excellent dialog and terrific, lighthearted, illustrations.
In the background, young readers learn about how voting works, plus they learn concepts about percentages. Awesome!
Campers at Camp Grizzly have the chance to elect a mascot.
Each day the camp newspaper, The Grizzly Gazette, takes a poll. Which contender is winning the biggest percentage of the vote so far?
Mascot competitors are Sophie, Daniel, and Corey. Who will win?
FIVE STARS for a lively tale, with excellent dialog and terrific, lighthearted, illustrations.
January 31, 2013
This is another fun story in the MathStart Level 3 series by Stuart J. Murphy. We like these books; they incorporate math principles into the story and show how math is fun and necessary for everyday life.
I thought the aspect of competition made the story more exciting and I loved the creativity of the main character. The way that pie charts and percentages are integrated into the story makes the concept easy to understand.
Overall, it's an entertaining story with colorful and informative illustrations. We enjoyed reading this book together.
I thought the aspect of competition made the story more exciting and I loved the creativity of the main character. The way that pie charts and percentages are integrated into the story makes the concept easy to understand.
Overall, it's an entertaining story with colorful and informative illustrations. We enjoyed reading this book together.
December 3, 2014
-third or fourth grade
-not only does it cover math topics but also shows how to campaign
-campaigns for peoples votes in a positive way
-on a child's level-- campaigning for camp mascot-- relatable
-not only does it cover math topics but also shows how to campaign
-campaigns for peoples votes in a positive way
-on a child's level-- campaigning for camp mascot-- relatable
June 20, 2012
I am never a big fan of math books, but it is pretty educational.
March 28, 2013
The concept of percentages is presented in a story about campers running for camp mascot. It introduces basic pie graphs and taking polls.
July 2, 2013
This would be a good book for the grades that are teaching circle graphs. I could probably take the information from the book and have the kids make a bar graph instead of the circle graph.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews