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Morgan and the Forty Thieves: A Magic Math Adventure
Nine-year-old Morgan is the daughter of an explorer and an adventurer at heart. When her father is lost on an expedition, Morgan and her mother are forced to sell their home and move in with a mysterious family they’ve never met. Morgan soon discovers that the family is hiding a great secret-- and that a world of magic and enchantments might actually be real. Set in Massachusetts at the turn of the last century, Morgan and the Forty Thieves is a captivating adventure story that has problem-solving and mathematical concepts woven into the narrative. Math is presented as a language of the universe that helps us understand the beautiful patterns and symmetries found in nature. In Book One of the series, children learn a step-by-step process of beginning multiplication. It begins with skip counting or counting by numbers. It then moves to adding equal-sized groups, and then multiplication, with several examples of each worked into the story. There are also addition problems, logic puzzles, a pattern puzzle, a smattering of geometry and a simple demonstration of comparing numbers—depicting ratios without using that term. Finally, there is an introduction of two mathematical concepts found in nature, the Fibonacci sequence and Fractals. Math found in the natural world will be a repeated theme of the Morgan series. The Morgan tales are designed as early Middle-Grade books. The sentence structure is simple and straightforward so that the book is accessible to younger readers, while the storyline is complex and intriguing enough to engage older readers. The Magic Math Adventure series is loosely based upon the collection of tales, The Thousand and One Nights or The Arabian Nights . These stories were created during the Golden Age of Islam in Persia and the Indian subcontinent.
128 pages, Paperback
Published October 30, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 26, 2025
Thanks to the author for sending me a copy to review
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*All of my reviews are as spoiler-free as possible unless states otherwise*
One of the first things I noticed when I started reading the book was how there were these very classic quotes at the beginning of every chapter. Aside from being wonderful on its own, they also kind of mirrored the contents of that chapter, for me at least. This was, I think, a very smart decision to add in a middle-grade book. It teaches kids about classics while presenting them a more modern story.
The story itself was also interesting enough for readers of all ages but was still something that middle-grade readers will still be able to comprehend and enjoy. It was also interactive. It exercises the reader's basic critical thinking skills while relating it to the story. It was educational while still being enjoyable.
The narration was also accompanied by illustrations that helped the readers visualize some scenes, another great thing for middle-grade books. Some of these illustrations were also some basic math or mini critical thinking activities that is sure to keep readers interested. Grandpa Allen was someone I could call dynamic and he really interested me. Morgan was relatable and I think she was a well-written character for a middle-grade book.
The story itself was a whimsical fantasy novel that is not boring, touching at times but nothing really heavy, and is something that I think middle graders can really possibly enjoy. The ending of the story was my favorite because it ended in the way I thought it was going to but there was still an unexpected element. The author also added a section that presents a deeper discussion for certain scenes, which I really enjoyed reading.
⟹ MY BLOG ⟸
⟹ SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI ⟸
*All of my reviews are as spoiler-free as possible unless states otherwise*
One of the first things I noticed when I started reading the book was how there were these very classic quotes at the beginning of every chapter. Aside from being wonderful on its own, they also kind of mirrored the contents of that chapter, for me at least. This was, I think, a very smart decision to add in a middle-grade book. It teaches kids about classics while presenting them a more modern story.
The story itself was also interesting enough for readers of all ages but was still something that middle-grade readers will still be able to comprehend and enjoy. It was also interactive. It exercises the reader's basic critical thinking skills while relating it to the story. It was educational while still being enjoyable.
The narration was also accompanied by illustrations that helped the readers visualize some scenes, another great thing for middle-grade books. Some of these illustrations were also some basic math or mini critical thinking activities that is sure to keep readers interested. Grandpa Allen was someone I could call dynamic and he really interested me. Morgan was relatable and I think she was a well-written character for a middle-grade book.
The story itself was a whimsical fantasy novel that is not boring, touching at times but nothing really heavy, and is something that I think middle graders can really possibly enjoy. The ending of the story was my favorite because it ended in the way I thought it was going to but there was still an unexpected element. The author also added a section that presents a deeper discussion for certain scenes, which I really enjoyed reading.
January 12, 2019
Morgan and the Forty Thieves is a children's fantasy adventure novel written in third-person from main character Morgan's point-of-view. It is well-written, with charming characters, and is filled with creative ways of teaching math concepts and some history to children.
I think any child who loves adventure stories would enjoy this book, in fact, I think this story can be enjoyed by anyone. After all, I'm an adult and I found myself caught up in the story eagerly reading to find out what would happen next.
I think any child who loves adventure stories would enjoy this book, in fact, I think this story can be enjoyed by anyone. After all, I'm an adult and I found myself caught up in the story eagerly reading to find out what would happen next.
January 13, 2020
Both my eight-year-old daughter and I really enjoyed this book! I picked it because I had seen it was “a magic math” book and she loves math, but it would be wrong to characterize it as JUST a math book – it’s got action and adventure, mystery and friendship, and a big dose of fantasy.
As a teacher of my daughter, my favorite thing about the book is how it includes use of math in real life and how one can think about math problems from multiple approaches. (And, honestly, how the main character’s doing so reinforces that taking deep breaths can calm your mind for focus – something I can’t seem to get my kid to really learn….) But as a reader my favorite part is that it’s got good descriptions – for example, a location is described as “a dank stairway, rickety with age, and discolored with mold,” and thunder is said to have “started with a loud boom and then rolled over her with the force of a fierce wave at sea.” Lesser writers would just say “an old staircase” and “booming thunder,” but Abacus paints pictures that give you the sense of the characters’ reality.
In addition, the characters in the book don’t just say their lines to get the story moving along – sometimes they share moments that kids can easily relate to (such as giggling while hiding from an adult behind a curtain), share wisdom learned through trials, and have internal struggles, like many good stories. I also liked that there are some nice clues dropped in for clever kids to figure out the mystery before the big reveal, if they like.
For those parents to whom this will matter a lot, I also want to point out that in this story there is no meanness of the kids – to others OR to themselves. There’s also context for and an explanation of an otherwise questionable action in a character’s past. There’s even a moment or two when the main character, who is rather good at math and logic, admits to sometimes still having to use her fingers – which is a good reminder to kids that you don’t always have to be perfect at everything.
My daughter, who is of course the main audience for this book, was most taken with the story itself. She liked the characters, she liked doing the math puzzles presented in the story, she liked trying to figure out the mystery, she liked the action, and she especially liked the fantasy element. At one point we read the allotted chapters for the night and she was SO MAD that we had to stop on a cliffhanger! When I asked her opinion of the book after we were done, she said there was nothing she didn’t like: “This book is awesome…. It’s a really good story” and the medallion in the book is “really cool.” Her only complaint seemed to be that “it needs more pictures.” She only mentioned that once, though, and early on, so I’m not sure that she would say that if asked again….
Another thing about the book that we both liked is the Medallion Matters section at the end. This is a nonfiction section that elaborates on a few of the real-world things mentioned or discussed in the story, such as the Fibonacci sequence and magic squares. We read through all the explanations after the story was over, and my daughter didn’t want to skip a single one. The nerd in me wants even more information in this section – many of the things that are included in the book, such as the setting, the time period, and animals could also have nonfiction information in the back for interested readers. Perhaps there could even be a bibliography or an “additional resources” section with sources so kids can go look up more. I also would personally like to see information on the sources quoted at the beginning of each chapter – some of them I had not heard of, and I don’t like leaving a story’s world to look up something like that. I do, however, appreciate the variety in the sources cited for the chapter-opening quotations! (A note at the front of the book states that there is a teacher/parent guide available online. Unfortunately I didn’t look into it before we started reading – I just looked at it, and it looks very extensive and like it includes this additional real-world information that I’m talking about….)
Overall, it was a fun read with, yes, math, but also good descriptions and a good mystery and an ending that wound up with quite a bit of action for the characters. When we were done my daughter immediately asked me if there were more books, and now she’s excited to read the second one!
As a teacher of my daughter, my favorite thing about the book is how it includes use of math in real life and how one can think about math problems from multiple approaches. (And, honestly, how the main character’s doing so reinforces that taking deep breaths can calm your mind for focus – something I can’t seem to get my kid to really learn….) But as a reader my favorite part is that it’s got good descriptions – for example, a location is described as “a dank stairway, rickety with age, and discolored with mold,” and thunder is said to have “started with a loud boom and then rolled over her with the force of a fierce wave at sea.” Lesser writers would just say “an old staircase” and “booming thunder,” but Abacus paints pictures that give you the sense of the characters’ reality.
In addition, the characters in the book don’t just say their lines to get the story moving along – sometimes they share moments that kids can easily relate to (such as giggling while hiding from an adult behind a curtain), share wisdom learned through trials, and have internal struggles, like many good stories. I also liked that there are some nice clues dropped in for clever kids to figure out the mystery before the big reveal, if they like.
For those parents to whom this will matter a lot, I also want to point out that in this story there is no meanness of the kids – to others OR to themselves. There’s also context for and an explanation of an otherwise questionable action in a character’s past. There’s even a moment or two when the main character, who is rather good at math and logic, admits to sometimes still having to use her fingers – which is a good reminder to kids that you don’t always have to be perfect at everything.
My daughter, who is of course the main audience for this book, was most taken with the story itself. She liked the characters, she liked doing the math puzzles presented in the story, she liked trying to figure out the mystery, she liked the action, and she especially liked the fantasy element. At one point we read the allotted chapters for the night and she was SO MAD that we had to stop on a cliffhanger! When I asked her opinion of the book after we were done, she said there was nothing she didn’t like: “This book is awesome…. It’s a really good story” and the medallion in the book is “really cool.” Her only complaint seemed to be that “it needs more pictures.” She only mentioned that once, though, and early on, so I’m not sure that she would say that if asked again….
Another thing about the book that we both liked is the Medallion Matters section at the end. This is a nonfiction section that elaborates on a few of the real-world things mentioned or discussed in the story, such as the Fibonacci sequence and magic squares. We read through all the explanations after the story was over, and my daughter didn’t want to skip a single one. The nerd in me wants even more information in this section – many of the things that are included in the book, such as the setting, the time period, and animals could also have nonfiction information in the back for interested readers. Perhaps there could even be a bibliography or an “additional resources” section with sources so kids can go look up more. I also would personally like to see information on the sources quoted at the beginning of each chapter – some of them I had not heard of, and I don’t like leaving a story’s world to look up something like that. I do, however, appreciate the variety in the sources cited for the chapter-opening quotations! (A note at the front of the book states that there is a teacher/parent guide available online. Unfortunately I didn’t look into it before we started reading – I just looked at it, and it looks very extensive and like it includes this additional real-world information that I’m talking about….)
Overall, it was a fun read with, yes, math, but also good descriptions and a good mystery and an ending that wound up with quite a bit of action for the characters. When we were done my daughter immediately asked me if there were more books, and now she’s excited to read the second one!
December 9, 2019
I discovered this book because I was internet friends with the illustrator years ago in a galaxy far away, and have watched her career bloom with great excitement because she's a pretty great person who also happens to be hella talented. I also happen to be a math nerd IRL, and am raising a couple of engineers, so this book seemed right up the six-year-old's alley.
Here's the thing, though-- the reading level is probably 4th-5th grade ish? But the math is extremely simple; I *know* my kid is working ahead because we can't help but teach her multiplying and dividing because life is math, but there's a bit about estimating thieves, where there are 19 tents and two thieves to a tent, which seems crazily simple for a fourth grader. The magic square was neat though, and my kid thought it was fun. So, let's pretend the simplicity of the math is not an issue. (honestly, if we're just reinforcing the idea that life is math rather than offering real math content, it's probably fine.)
The plot is basically, a girl and her mother move to a big house after losing their own because dad's been missing for a year; girl meets comparably-aged boy and his quirky grandpa and has Big Magical Adventures. All good. The writing is a little simple and sometimes stilted, but again-- aimed at kids; think Magic Tree House, the Next Step.
Still, even kids know a plothole when they see one. At some point in the book, there's a break-in at the mansion, and the kids are like OMG HOW DID THEY GET IN AND OUT?! At which point, grandpa's like, I gotchoo-- and shows them a secret passage. They follow, Morgan learns the Big Secret and then they go home... and do exactly nothing to secure the passage or tell anyone about how the ruffians got in. In fact, everyone's just like WHOO BOY, nap? lunch? sweet. Predictably, the thieves come back through said passageway and steal Grandpa next, making it so Morgan and Rusty must now save him. They rouse 10 rescuers... to handle 40 thieves. Without giving them warning that they're outnumbered 4 to 1 (after they do the math to figure it out), relying on their own magical skills to solve the problem. Magical skills plothole spoiler though:
There's a nice little section at the end of the book that discusses a couple of the topics in more detail, including the Underground Railroad, Fibonacci numbers, Charles Darwin, and Magic Squares, at least?
Still, and this is an issue my kid did not pick up on but I was absolutely required to add an impromptu section of my own to explain to said kid about the diversity of Native American tribes. There's a section where Grandpa is spilling the story of this magical amulet and his adventures stealing goods back from thieves with interest, and he tells of a magical cave that is opened by using pictograms. He goes on to say that he took his transcription of the pictograms and was told by "the native" that it had to do with lightning man who is is a big deal to tribal lore. My dudes, there was literally no research done here at all. The lumping together of 'natives' into an amorphous blob that can be plumbed for magic is pretty dire, and the references to ' the natives' is grossly colonial.
Anyway. I don't know if I can distract the kid from wanting to read the next book in the series, but I'm unfortunately not a fan. The cover art is fantastic though. :)
Here's the thing, though-- the reading level is probably 4th-5th grade ish? But the math is extremely simple; I *know* my kid is working ahead because we can't help but teach her multiplying and dividing because life is math, but there's a bit about estimating thieves, where there are 19 tents and two thieves to a tent, which seems crazily simple for a fourth grader. The magic square was neat though, and my kid thought it was fun. So, let's pretend the simplicity of the math is not an issue. (honestly, if we're just reinforcing the idea that life is math rather than offering real math content, it's probably fine.)
The plot is basically, a girl and her mother move to a big house after losing their own because dad's been missing for a year; girl meets comparably-aged boy and his quirky grandpa and has Big Magical Adventures. All good. The writing is a little simple and sometimes stilted, but again-- aimed at kids; think Magic Tree House, the Next Step.
Still, even kids know a plothole when they see one. At some point in the book, there's a break-in at the mansion, and the kids are like OMG HOW DID THEY GET IN AND OUT?! At which point, grandpa's like, I gotchoo-- and shows them a secret passage. They follow, Morgan learns the Big Secret and then they go home... and do exactly nothing to secure the passage or tell anyone about how the ruffians got in. In fact, everyone's just like WHOO BOY, nap? lunch? sweet. Predictably, the thieves come back through said passageway and steal Grandpa next, making it so Morgan and Rusty must now save him. They rouse 10 rescuers... to handle 40 thieves. Without giving them warning that they're outnumbered 4 to 1 (after they do the math to figure it out), relying on their own magical skills to solve the problem. Magical skills plothole spoiler though:
There's a nice little section at the end of the book that discusses a couple of the topics in more detail, including the Underground Railroad, Fibonacci numbers, Charles Darwin, and Magic Squares, at least?
Still, and this is an issue my kid did not pick up on but I was absolutely required to add an impromptu section of my own to explain to said kid about the diversity of Native American tribes. There's a section where Grandpa is spilling the story of this magical amulet and his adventures stealing goods back from thieves with interest, and he tells of a magical cave that is opened by using pictograms. He goes on to say that he took his transcription of the pictograms and was told by "the native" that it had to do with lightning man who is is a big deal to tribal lore. My dudes, there was literally no research done here at all. The lumping together of 'natives' into an amorphous blob that can be plumbed for magic is pretty dire, and the references to ' the natives' is grossly colonial.
Anyway. I don't know if I can distract the kid from wanting to read the next book in the series, but I'm unfortunately not a fan. The cover art is fantastic though. :)
February 15, 2019
I received a free copy of this book and was keen to read it to see if it was suitable for my 7 year old grandson.
I wasn't disappointed! Morgan and the Forty Thieves combines maths puzzles (one of my grandson's favourite things) with an exciting mystery story (another favourite thing!). It's a great way to engage children in fun problem solving activities that can help them develop maths skills and understanding of mathematical thinking, while enjoying an exciting story.
It's a captivating story, with a nice mix of fantasy and history influencing the narrative. The characters are well-drawn and appealing, the story is well-paced, and the final cliffhanger is going to make children clamour for the next book.
I wasn't disappointed! Morgan and the Forty Thieves combines maths puzzles (one of my grandson's favourite things) with an exciting mystery story (another favourite thing!). It's a great way to engage children in fun problem solving activities that can help them develop maths skills and understanding of mathematical thinking, while enjoying an exciting story.
It's a captivating story, with a nice mix of fantasy and history influencing the narrative. The characters are well-drawn and appealing, the story is well-paced, and the final cliffhanger is going to make children clamour for the next book.
March 17, 2019
This is a charming story of a young girl's adventures when her mother is forced to leave her life of plenty and work in a large mansion house due to the disappearance of her scientist husband.
The author combines Morgan's adventures with introductions to basic mathematical concepts and manages to smoothly include some elements of history.
The writing flowed well and the story is lined with intrigue.
Very well written!
The author combines Morgan's adventures with introductions to basic mathematical concepts and manages to smoothly include some elements of history.
The writing flowed well and the story is lined with intrigue.
Very well written!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews