Title: Pythagoras and the Ratios and What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras?
Author: Julie Ellis
Series: Charlesbridge Math Adventures
Major Themes: Math, Geometry, Music, Pythagoras, Picture Book Biographies, Ancient Times, Greece
Synopsis: How did Pythagoras discover the concepts of right triangles and ratios several hundred years before Christ lived on Earth?
One of my friends, another homeschooling mother, brought a couple of picture books about Pythagoras to a recent gathering to see if anyone wanted to borrow them. I brought the books home, and, since we’re on our relaxed summer schedule decided that these books would be our math and history for the day yesterday. We read both Pythagoras and the Ratios and What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras?. One of my adult sons happened to be home that morning, and he was as interested as the schoolchildren! A good picture book is attractive to all ages.
Publisher’s description:
Pythagoras and the Ratios
Pythagoras’s cousin Octavius wants to win the music contest, but his pipes are out of tune. Pythagoras compares the faulty pipes to his own perfect set. Together the cousins find a relationship between the longest and shortest of Pythagoras’s pipes, which gives them an idea for how to fix Octavius’s set. The answer’s not so easy when cousins Reyna and Amara ask Pythagoras to fix their lyres so that they can join in the contest, too. Will Pythagoras tune in to the solution in time?
What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras?
Pythagoras always seems to be in trouble, but it’s only because he’s so curious. You never know where you’ll find him. He could be up in a tree with the birds, spying on workmen, or messing about with maps. He is deep into his latest adventure, and trouble, when he discovers a pattern that gets him on everyone’s good side.
My thoughts:
Neither of these books appear to be altogether historically accurate. Both, however, get across the idea of some of the mathematical and geometrical concepts that Pythagoras discovered, some five centuries before the birth of Christ. Both books have somewhat comical illustrations, but they are bright, colorful, and attractive. In both, Pythagoras is portrayed as someone who is so interested in his mathematical puzzles that he forgets what he is supposed to be doing. Everyone ends up happy in the end, though. I personally liked What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras best. For one thing, I understand the Pythagorean Theorem, so this book makes sense! For another, in Pythagoras and the Ratios, there are a lot ofunnecessary words, such as someone yelling, “Zeus’s beard!.” The song that they practice for the contest is “Ode to Apollo.” These don’t bother me too much, because they are likely historically authentic. However, I do skip over the exclamations as I read aloud.
These two books by Julie Ellis are a great way to introduce children to ratios and the relationships between numbers that help to make music work, and to right triangles and the Pythagorean Theorem, including how it can be used in building. These stories are fun, as well as entertaining.
WARNING: See the second to last paragraph.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 5 – 8, 8 – 12
Reading Independently—Ages 7 – 9, 8 – 12
Links to buy these books:
Pythagoras and the Ratios:
Amazon: Paperback | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras?:
Amazon: Paperback | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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