These are some of our favorite out-of-print “thinking” books.
The back of the books say: “This is not a mathematic book in its usual sense; it is a book about thinking. It is about perspective, and about abstracting to look at things in a new way.” That simple description concisely explains why I love them. These books are unlike any typical math book.
I was introduced to Anno’s creative world when I first borrowed Anno’s Math Games from our library. I scanned the book that evening, was immediately hooked, and knew that these were books worth owning.
Surprisingly, the books are out of print, but used copies are available on Amazon. Here are links to Math Games II and Math Games III.
Anno’s Math Games
Below are a few examples of the puzzles from the three different books. As you’ll see, these pages challenge kids to think creatively. I love going through the books with my boys without focusing on a right or wrong answer.
There are puzzles, like the ones above. Kids can work their way through each puzzle and then can compare the two puzzles to see how they’re the same and how they’re different.
And look at the page below. Upon first introduction, kids can work their way through the town via the roads. The next step would be having your kids use just their words to tell you directions to different points in the town.
This page asks the kids to pick out the vehicle on this page that’s different and to explain why it’s different. There are so many possible answers to this question! It’s fun to have your kids talk through why they would consider one vehicle different from all of the others.
The image below is another favorite for my boys. It really challenges their minds to follow the rotation of one wheel after the other trying to figure out what will happen.
There are also instructions, like the ones below, for activities that can be done outside of the book.
I think that the puzzles above are great for lower elementary learners. But I also think that we should all be doing mind-benders, so even your upper elementary kids may benefit from these books.
Anno’s Counting Book
BUT if you have a wee little one that’s just learning to count, there’s Anno’s Counting Book.
The book starts at the number 0 and goes up to 12. As each page progresses, whatever the given number, there are that many of each object on the page.
You can have your kiddos count each object and get a great visual of the “size” of different numbers.
BUT WAIT, there’s more! If you have a kid ready for multiplication, there’s Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar. Our copy just arrived this week and like all of these books, it’s amazing and beautifully illustrates the concept of multiplication.
Mitsumasa Anno
Maybe now’s a good time to introduce Mitsumasa Anno. Anno is a Japanese illustration best known for his children’s books (surprise, surprise!). In addition to these math books, he has illustrated a number of children’s books and has won numerous awards for his work. He works mostly in ink and watercolor and many of his illustrations are very detailed with tiny images. Before his illustration work, Anno was an elementary math teacher. Needless to say, I’m a big fan.
Links to all of the books mentioned in this post:
- Anno’s Math Games
- Anno’s Math Games II
- Anno’s Math Games III
- Anno’s Counting Books
- Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar