Sir Cumference and the Off-the-Charts Dessert (Charlesbridge Math Adventures)
This humorous story offers one explanation for the origin of pie charts and bar graphs while serving up some possible mathematical or culinary career choices for youngsters. Two talented bakers compete for the honor of preparing the Harvest Sweet for an annual celebration. In order to determine the popular favorites as the townspeople taste their wares, both bakers keep tallies, one marked with lines in flour on a table and the other with pinches of dough. But their records are ruined by their cat and dog that respectively dash through the flour and gobble up the dough. Still, they need some way to record their patrons favorite choices and eventually come up with their own strategies that will be animal-proof. The male baker stacks cookie molds, one for each different type of cookie preferred by his customers, while the female baker arranges different colors of candies around a circular, pie shape to record the results. Thus, the results will be visual, and easy to understand. The story will hold readers' attention while the acrylic paint illustrations fit the story well. The relish with which the townsfolk and the animals savor the desserts is palpable. Math has never been so sweet. --Reading Today Online, IRA