The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns

[rcratty]

The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns (Author), Gordon Silveria (Illustrator)
The Greedy Triangle is a unique fun way to help children become comfortable with geometry. The book opens with a little triangle: "Once there was a triangle that was -- as most triangles are -- always busy." The little triangle has favorite places where triangles can be found such as "holding up roofs, supporting bridges, making music, catching the wind for sailboats, being slices of pie . . . The triangle's favorite thing, however, was to slip into place when people put their hands on their hips." This last refers to the space between the arm and the body. The triangle likes this shape because "that way I always hear the latest news . . . which I can tell my friends." Once the idea of a triangle shape is firmly established the triangle seeks the help of a shapeshifter to become a quadrilateral. With help of the shapeshifter the former triangle becomes a pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, and decagon. The pattern and rhythm of The Greedy Triangle makes this an excellent four star way to teach geometry. ****

[cvreader]

Nice review! I'm looking forward to reading this book. It sounds like it will spark a nice geometry discussion.

[AlwaysWorthIt]

Oh my goodness. I LOVE this book as a teacher. The book was introduced to me in a math course I took while training to be a teacher. It's genius! Giving the lesson of geometry of shapes and the lesson of being greedy. And the illustrations! We created a lesson plan around this book as well. It is a wonderful children's book.

[Amagine]

This sounds like a great educational book. I love when books serve multiple purposes. It's a book that teaches children math, it opens discussion between adults and children and it's simply a book that they can read and gain language skills from.