DO YOU WANNA BET?

Brian and Danny are introduced to the laws of chance through coin tossing, spinner and card games, and the weather; they even discover that whenever 23 or more people get together, chances are better than even that at least two will have the same birthday. Although the fictional component strains credibility (the two boys spend most of their waking time at home, school, and even at birthday parties talking about the laws of chance), setting a probability primer in everyday life does reduce its pedantry. A minor cavil: none of the cheery, informal drawings actually illustrates the ideas presented, missing a good opportunity to introduce charts and graphs as a help to visualization. Nonetheless, a lively introduction that may hook a budding physicist (or gambler) on the endless fascination of the vagaries of numbers. (Nonfiction. 9+)