MATH-TERPIECES

The author of several other highly praised math books has another winner in this combination of math and art history. Each two-page spread contains the reproduction of a famous painting identified by artist and date, a series of rhymed couplets describing the painting and proposing a problem, and a series of objects from the painting that are to be grouped and counted in various ways. A Monet water lily painting is accompanied by several groups of water lilies, and instructions to “Try grouping LILIES to make 8, / FOUR smart ways would be just great!” Dalí’s Persistence of Memory is accompanied by a verse entitled “Time Warp,” which includes these lines: “Is it a dream or is it real? / It’s hard to know when art’s surreal.” Attractive and intriguing. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-10)