love of local in Utah
Me + Math = Magic Interview & Giveaway
Today I am interviewing the author and illustrator of the Me+Math=Magic Books. At the END of the interview, leave a comment to have a chance to win their full line of books!
Vanessa: Why did you decide to get into the business of children’s books? Tell us more about your line of books!
Annette (Author): I have spent most of my life raising and teaching children in many capacities. I loved reading as a child, because it provided me the opportunity to escape into another world. Even as an adult, I still love children’s books. My children could attest to the fact that we spent countless hours at the library and even more time reading at home.
This past fall, I was asked to be a long-term substitute in a Kindergarten class for a teacher on maternity leave. The teacher ended up having her baby 5 weeks early, before any plans had been made for her absence. Very early one morning, I got a phone call letting me know that beginning that day, I would be teaching her Title I Kindergarten class for the next three months. Most of her students scored well below average in pre-screening for kindergarten, so I faced a huge challenge. I quickly discovered that fitting in everything the kids needed in a half-day of Kindergarten was practically impossible. I also noticed a huge emphasis on language arts, while math was just fit in whenever time could be found (which was rare). My daughter is the math specialist at the school I was working at, so I was very aware of the challenges faced when math is not taught adequately. I began looking for ways to teach math alongside language arts and found that there really are not that many resources for teaching these concepts on a Kindergarten level. So, I decided to develop my own!
We have published 5 picture books, each focusing on a specific math concept from the Kindergarten curriculum. Although they were developed for Kindergarten, we have also found that the concepts overlap and work well in preschool and first grade as well. Each book uses rhyming verse to tell a cute story that teaches the concept. At the end of each book, there is an activity page for parents to interact with their children and the book. We have also published a companion resource book for teachers that includes full lesson plans and extensions to integrate math into their curriculum (see below for more details).
Vanessa: How do you feel your books help children learn as well as help the parents or teachers teach?
Annette (Author): Although I developed these in a teaching setting, I wanted them to be parent friendly as well. At the end of each picture book, there is an activity page for parents. This page gives parents ideas of how to extend the ideas in the book into conversations and activities with their children that will continue to teach math and language concepts. Each idea is simple and easy to do at home. My hope is that parents will be motivated to be more involved in teaching their children these basic concepts at home so they can be more successful in school and in life.
The teaching resource book that accompanies the five picture books is chock full of ideas for teachers. My daughter, the math specialist, co-authored this resource book with me. Because we found a lack of resources for teaching these basic math concepts, we tried to create a new resource for teachers that would offer multiple ways to teach one concept. We have tried to make the resources extremely teacher friendly. For each picture book, there is a full lesson plan and assessment, plus five to ten extension ideas of how to integrate that math concept into literacy, art, P.E., and music.
Vanessa: What future goals do you have for your business? Any future books or products that will be released soon?
Annette: We are constantly looking for more ways to expand our business and get our products out to more parents and teachers. We are currently selling our books in seven bookstores along the Wasatch Front and in Park City. We have also worked with multiple schools to get our books into the classroom, and are constantly looking for more teachers to work with.
We have five more picture books in the works and are hoping to publish them by the end of this year or the beginning of next year. These five books will complete most of the Kindergarten curriculum. In the future, we hope to move up into other grade levels to create resources for children of all ages.
Vanessa: Tell us about the illustrations in the book. What was your goal with the illustrations in each book?
Megan (Illustrator): Annette and I worked very closely on the illustrations to match them with the text. We wanted to show the math concept through the illustrations, in addition to the text on the page. I also tried to use characters that children would love, such as animals and kids like them. Most of the books also have elements in the illustrations that extend the math concept beyond the text on the page, such as the hidden ladybug on each page of Willie Whale, Where Are You?, which allows children to talk about the position of the ladybug as well as the position of the whale.
Vanessa: How do you feel the illustrations in the book teach the children who read them the concept of patterns, counting, sorting, color words, numbers, position words and shapes?
Megan (Illustrator): The illustrations give kids a visual representation of each math concept, so they can see what’s happening rather than just hear it explained. Because we chose characters and situations that kids can relate to, the math concepts naturally appear in the illustrations. Even before kids can read the words on the page, they can begin learning the math concept by looking at the pictures and having parents or teachers point out the concepts being taught. An example of this is in Can Polly’s Pattern Win the Prize?, where many different patterns are introduced. Kids can look at the patterns on each page and compare similar or different patterns throughout the book. As parents and teachers help kids see these patterns, they can begin to understand this basic math concept.
The girls love these books. I love these books. They have our seal of approval! Thanks for the great interview, ladies! And now, let’s do the giveaway!
To have the chance to win the line of their Me + Math = Magic Books, YOU MUST:
Comment on THIS Post on THIS Website
Extra Entries:
On Facebook, become a fan of INeverGrewUp.net on Facebook for an extra entry.
Tweet or Facebook about the giveaway for an extra entry.
This Giveaway Closes on Saturday, July 23rd at 7pm MST. Good Luck!< >< ><–>
Tags: me + math = magic, utah authors
Wow that is such a nice interview and the books look pretty nice and I hope they are a good read for my kids and me when we win em…keepin my fingers crossed
I am a fan on facebook and I tweeted at http://twitter.com/zobars
I would love these for my son. He is just starting to read at age 5, and he would absolutely love these!
Wow! Those books are awesome! I need to get some for my nephew!
Yes freakin’ please! I mean, pretty, I mean pretty please…
The world is in need of some good math picture books! I run a preschool out of my home and these books would be perfect. Thanks for the giveaway!
What a great idea and a fabulous resource. Having our oldest daughter heading off to kindergarten in less than two weeks (yikes!), these would be great to have in our home.
What a wonderful teaching resource!
I am having a give-a-away today too! Visit my blog at LauraNicoleDesign.blogspot.com!
Great books! They would be great for my daughter whose just about to start Kindergarten.
How fantastic! I would love these books for my little boys!
So cool to have a local author and by the covers the books look so fun. I have a 2 and 4 year old and think these books would fit into our day.
Cheers
What a wonderful interview and such an awesome give-away.. my girls would love the books.
thanks for this fantastic give-away!
carol
maplecreekracing(at)comcast(dot)net
i am a facebook fan!
carol
maplecreekracing(at)comcast(dot)net
i tweeted..
http://twitter.com/maplecreek/status/18691466103
carol
maplecreekracing(at)comcast(dot)net
These look like great books to help teach math!
ok, as a teacher, I can TRULY see the value in these great books as a wonderful resource to use when teaching my 2nd graders math concepts… If I don’t win, I will have to save some of my supply money (which is very little for teachers) to buy them… and actually, looking at their website, they have a resource book with lesson plans… Now I’m even more excited! I hope I win these
Thank you for letting us know about these books!! I’m excited about them and crossing my fingers that I win the set. I have one daughter going into 1st grade and one getting ready for preschool. They both love to read and I get excited when the books they love to read are not only great stories, but teach them something valuable in the process!! Thanks!
I ‘Facebooked’ about your give-away!!!
I love that theses book try to teach as well as entertain and the colors are very visually stimulating
Thank you for this interview. These books look amazing! Would love to have them for my 2 favorite little readers!
like I never grew up on fb
These look great! My children would love them!
I am a Facebook fan.
Have three children & direct an early learning center – what a treasure these books would be!
My kids both love to read! Thanks for the great Giveaway!
My son is 14 months old and is already a huge bookworm! I would love to share these books with him- they look awesome!
I graduated from BYU with Caytlin and would love these books for my two girls! They are avid book readers! Way to go girls! The books look amazing!
Just became a fan on FB! I want these books! Crossing my fingers! Thanks for the great giveaway!
I am so happy to hear that you are developing resources for parents and teachers at the primary levels. My son is entering pre-school next year and we read with him half an hour each day. Some of his favorite books are math books and we would love to have these gems to add to our collection! Keep up the great work!
Amy
wow.. those look like they are great books. it is important to incorporate math as much as possible.
I am a fan of INeverGrewUp.net on Facebook.
Tweeted this awesome giveaway!
https://twitter.com/NEQuilter_Etsy/status/18715979293
These books are amazing. I love the bright, simple, and different illustrations. I teach Kindergarten in the Columbus Public School system, and can see where she is coming from. These books really fit into my teaching style which is very focused on reading (my strong point in school!) While also trying to present Math in unique ways for those who have trouble with numbers (ME!) These are fabulous for visual learners and for helping children in both Math & Reading simultaneously. A great resource to get boys and girls off to a strong beginning in Math early in their life, so they don’t loathe it as they get older…. like I did
FB fan as well
My great-niece and nephew would adore these books. They would also be useful books for them…
Many thanks, Cindi
I am a Facebook fan of INeverGrewUp!
Thanks, Cindi
“Tweet!”
http://twitter.com/cmh512/status/18722360037.
Again, many thanks!
Cindi
I think you guys are doing an awesome thing for young readers. I am a teacher and am always looking for ways to integrate math into other subjects, especially language arts. Annette and Megan, you rock!
would love to win, thanks for the great giveaway!
Oh how pretty! What a wonderful idea for childen’s books. I love the brightly colored illustrations!
I would love these !! And I personally love the authors !! And I believe that I am already a fan on facebook..if not, I will be in a minute!! Pick ME !!! ha ha
I would love this collection for my granddaughter. Thank you for the opportunity!
Wow!! These sound amazing. I would love to use these with my 4 year old. Thanks!
I am also a fan on facebook.
These books look really nice!! We’d love to try them out in our home.
These look like just what I’ve been hunting for! Thanks for the interview and product heads-up!
Oh I hope I win!
I would love to use these books for my 4 year old’s “math” for home school. We won’t be tackling any formal math curriculum yet, but these look great.
I am in Canada – if that is not OK just veto my vote – I love the concept of “reading” math, as a homeschooler we do it all the time. I find “teaching” math in ways that are unstructured and not “schoolish” work much better with my girls. I would so love to win these books for my daughter – she would enjoy them alot.
I’m a fan on facebook too!
These books would be great for my son. Thanks for the chance.
Wow, these books are great! I would love a set for my classroom.
I’m also a fan on Facebook!
My daughter will be born in Oct… and I’m starting a book collection for her… these would be perfect! Thanks!
Wow. Rad books and cute illustrations! Caytlin didn’t tell me they were publishing kids books these days! Would love to view in person. My 1-year old daughter also LOVES LOVES LOVES books.
Gorgeous books and a great idea. Thanks for the opportunity. bowtiesnbutterflies@live.com
We love books in this house. Awesome giveaway!!
I’m a preschool teacher and this would be an amazing resource!
I would love to win! I need to start my own collection of kids books!
I am a fan of I never grew up on FB
erobison09@gmail.com
The books look lovely, all bright and simple, but even more, I love the concept!
I. Love. Math.
Thank you.
My kids love to read and would love these!
Like I Never Grew Up on facebook
I updated my facebook status for the contest… I really want these books for my classroom
found you through my sister, i ‘like’ your facebook page… would love these for my kids!
These sound fabulous! I would love to have these for my little reader!
Cute books… hope I win!
Wow, those book look amazing!
Thanks for the giveaway!
I would love to win these children’s book! They would be a great addition to my library!
It is always a challenge to find interesting ways to teach math. These books definitely get the job done! I would love these for my kids and to share around.
What a fabulous resource! My five year old math-loving son would be tickled to read these books this summer as he is eagerly awaiting the start of kindy!
Great books. I love the Willie Whale concept. I think most kids could relate to a book with a favorite stuffed animal as their friend. Thanks!
First of all, fantastic review. Looks like a wonderful collection to have for my niece
fb fan-Julie L
THanks for the giveaway!
iamtheluckiest3@yahoo.com
As a kindergarten teacher, I love good books for kids. These look great and the interview was quite enlightening.
Oh, those books look amazing. I am a former teacher turned stay-at-home momma and would love to have these in our collection!
Thanks!
I am now a facebook fan! : )
I just tweeted about it too! : )
http://twitter.com/ourhappydays
thanks would love to win for my kids eaglesforjack@gmail.com
I became a fan of INeverGrewUp.net on Facebook (mrstinareynolds)
Making math fun is pretty cool, would love to win these for my nieces!
Most of the preschool/kindergarten math books I see are just workbooks. These look much more fun.
I just saw this series of books at a bookstore yesterday. They are amazing!
My son struggles in math the most so I’d love this
for him.