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Animal Math
Tiger Math, Learning to Graph From a Baby Tiger
This book uses graphs to help tell the story of T.J., a Siberian tiger cub born at the Denver zoo. This book introduces four different kinds of graphs: picture graphs, circle graphs, bar graphs, and line graphs.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
3 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 6, 2021
A cute book about a tiger named TJ and his struggle to gain weight after his tiger mom dies of cancer. The book uses and explains graphs in an understandable way for children to learn and offers many wonderful photos of TJ as he grows.
September 8, 2023
My third grader recently came home from school and said "Math is so hard" She loves animals and wants to be a veterinarian so when I saw this book at our library, I decided to check it out.
She loved it, and it really does do a great job of incorporating pictographs, bar graphs and line graphs into this story about a tiger not eating or gaining weight as a cub in a really interesting way.
My only change would be to add some questions for parents to ask their children about the graph as they read. It's easy enough to think of some on your own, but it just would have been nice to have them ready to go.
I will definitely check out the other books in this series. It's a great way to make math fun and meaningful for elementary students.
She loved it, and it really does do a great job of incorporating pictographs, bar graphs and line graphs into this story about a tiger not eating or gaining weight as a cub in a really interesting way.
My only change would be to add some questions for parents to ask their children about the graph as they read. It's easy enough to think of some on your own, but it just would have been nice to have them ready to go.
I will definitely check out the other books in this series. It's a great way to make math fun and meaningful for elementary students.
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August 29, 2021This book is about the life of a baby tiger, name T.J. he was a very small tiger cub, that lost his mother at a very young age and had a hard time eating and gaining weight. In this book they compared T.J. And his father’s weight, and compared T.J. to other tiger populations. The book is set up where the left side of the book has numbers and graphs, and the right side book is just the story. Graphs used in this book are pie graphs, picture graphs, and bar graphs.
September 7, 2020
This is a great book to use a supplement to a math lesson. The students would love the story about TJ the tiger but the teachers love the graphs that are incorporated in the book as well. Students are able to learn how to graph in a fun and interactive manner because they are invested in the story of TJ the tiger.
February 8, 2021
Cute story about a baby tiger cub and his journey to adulthood! This book is excellent for a math or science course as well because it demonstrates different types of graphs and how they are used in the cub's case to measure his growth. Very informative and creative!
April 21, 2020
A nice (and practical) story to teach kids about graphing.
February 5, 2021
I love the combination of learning about tigers, photos of a real baby tiger, and learning to graph.
March 9, 2022
This is a fun nonfictional book that teaches students about the different kinds of graphs.
June 30, 2022
My 8-year-old learned so much about math. He was also very interested in the story of T.J. the Tiger.
I plan to use this in the classroom with my multilingual elementary students, too!
I plan to use this in the classroom with my multilingual elementary students, too!
December 3, 2013
Summary:Tiger Math is a book that tells the story of an orphan, Siberian tiger cub named T.J., born at the Denver Zoo in Colorado. T.J. became an orphan when he was just 10 weeks old because his mother died of cancer.
Critique:The format of Tiger Math is beneficial for the reader because the author keeps the entirety of the math problems on the left side of the book and T.J.’s story on the right side of the book. Tiger Math introduced the different graph types while presenting them to the reader. The author even explains why we use graphs and why they are important. Tiger Math uses picture graphs, circle graphs, bar graphs, and line graphs. The picture graph in this book is wonderful because it could be applicable in so many different math lessons, including addition. This graph also helps students recognize and measure in new units.
T.J’s story is an effective attention getter because it is heartbreaking to see what this tiger had to go through. It is also an effective learning tool because it give the graphs meaning and clear understanding. When T.J was with his mother, you can see his weight exponentially increasing. However, T.J. stops eating when his mother dies and you can see that in the bar and line graphs because his weight is not rapidly increasing as it used to be. This story is a great tool to bridge student’s critical thinking skills with mathematic comprehension. The book also touched on environmental topics by stressing how rare Siberian tigers are.
Critique:The format of Tiger Math is beneficial for the reader because the author keeps the entirety of the math problems on the left side of the book and T.J.’s story on the right side of the book. Tiger Math introduced the different graph types while presenting them to the reader. The author even explains why we use graphs and why they are important. Tiger Math uses picture graphs, circle graphs, bar graphs, and line graphs. The picture graph in this book is wonderful because it could be applicable in so many different math lessons, including addition. This graph also helps students recognize and measure in new units.
T.J’s story is an effective attention getter because it is heartbreaking to see what this tiger had to go through. It is also an effective learning tool because it give the graphs meaning and clear understanding. When T.J was with his mother, you can see his weight exponentially increasing. However, T.J. stops eating when his mother dies and you can see that in the bar and line graphs because his weight is not rapidly increasing as it used to be. This story is a great tool to bridge student’s critical thinking skills with mathematic comprehension. The book also touched on environmental topics by stressing how rare Siberian tigers are.
September 1, 2015
I read this book in my library for the purpose of classifying it.
On the surface and from the size, I would generally expect it to be a pre-reading picture book, or for those just learning to read. To my surprise, I found indepth instruction into graphing data, made simple. I classified it accordingly in the Young Adult nonfiction section. I would say that the book is appropriate for 5th or 6th grade students learning to graph in mathematics class, or learning to read and understand graphical data presented in science or social studies.
Since reading it, I've recommended the book several times to children looking for help with their mathematics or science homework. I have not had any success getting these older children interested - I think, mainly, because it looks like a "book for little kids". They prefer to check out books that present the material in a typical "dull, dry, and boring" manner. It's really a shame. I'll try recommending it to adults studying to take GED tests, and hopefully they'll get a lot out of it.
On the surface and from the size, I would generally expect it to be a pre-reading picture book, or for those just learning to read. To my surprise, I found indepth instruction into graphing data, made simple. I classified it accordingly in the Young Adult nonfiction section. I would say that the book is appropriate for 5th or 6th grade students learning to graph in mathematics class, or learning to read and understand graphical data presented in science or social studies.
Since reading it, I've recommended the book several times to children looking for help with their mathematics or science homework. I have not had any success getting these older children interested - I think, mainly, because it looks like a "book for little kids". They prefer to check out books that present the material in a typical "dull, dry, and boring" manner. It's really a shame. I'll try recommending it to adults studying to take GED tests, and hopefully they'll get a lot out of it.
March 4, 2016
This book has an interesting format: on the right-hand pages is written the story of T.J. the tiger and on the left-hand pages are graphs that use different information from T.J. the tiger.
T.J. the tiger loses his mother when he is very young and the workers have to find a way to keep alive, and eating. Slowly, T.J. starts eating and gaining weight. Soon he is able to open doors and cries when left by himself. After some time, T.J. is moved to another zoo. He is scared but soon learns all about his new home.
Grade: 1st Grade to 4th Grade
Topic: Animals, Math, Zoo, Tigers
T.J. the tiger loses his mother when he is very young and the workers have to find a way to keep alive, and eating. Slowly, T.J. starts eating and gaining weight. Soon he is able to open doors and cries when left by himself. After some time, T.J. is moved to another zoo. He is scared but soon learns all about his new home.
Grade: 1st Grade to 4th Grade
Topic: Animals, Math, Zoo, Tigers
March 14, 2012
This book is wonderful! This lesson could be a great combination lesson! It could be a combined math and science lesson! For me I would teach children how to graph data for math lesson while incorporating science! While they are graphing the data you can give information on tigers and tie it into animal interactions and different breeds of tiger. This could also lead into explaining what breeds are. This book is great for 1-3rd grade!
January 12, 2011
Who isn't a sucker for a cute little baby animal? My kids certainly are and this book was filled with adorable "ohhh" inspiring pictures that really actually made them interested in the graphs. Fun with graphs (and math, shhh) ensued.
February 11, 2012
We read this to launch our unit on representing data and it was an absolute smash hit. I mean, it's hard to do wrong with a cuddly underweight tiger bug, but my students have been talking about this book throughout our unit so far.
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March 6, 2016Tiger Math is another great resource for teaching math in a fun way. The story of TJ is intertwined with math in a way that makes graphing and looking at data fun. Children in Denver might especially enjoy this story since TJ was born at the Denver Zoo.
September 12, 2007
I relly liked the graghs
January 15, 2008
A great book to use when introducing graphing and other math concepts to elementary school students.
September 7, 2011
a story book to teach children fundlementals of math.
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November 28, 2011Shows students how to describe the growth by means of words and graphs.
April 22, 2012
This is a great non fiction book to teach students about the tiger and mammals at the zoo. This book would get the interest of all readers K-5.
November 20, 2012
This book tells the story of a motherless tiger. Also, this book teaches children how to represent data using a graph. This book is great becuae it teaches children about math and it tells a story.
April 16, 2013
The kids absolutely loved this book! The pictures really engage them in the story and they were fascinated by the graphs and the information in them.
April 19, 2013
This book teaches children how to graph using information about the baby tiger and the tigers experiences. It would be a fun book to use when teaching students about graphs.
July 2, 2013
Here is a link to a review I've written about this book: http://rainaevink.hubpages.com/hub/Ti...
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December 31, 2013AR Quiz No. 45151 EN Nonfiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 4.9 - AR Pts: 0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 4.9 - AR Pts: 0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP
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January 31, 2016I've been using this in my math class for awhile. Kids engage in story and our discussion about different types of graphs and why you use different ones.
December 18, 2024
This was one of my favorites as a kid
September 21, 2011
Great book for the classroom and versitile for multiple age groups.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews