Leedy,
Loreen Seeing Symmetry
Holiday
House 2012 32p $17.95
978-0-8234-2360-6 elem E-BNe Nonfiction
Loreen Leedy’s nonfiction titles are
classroom staples. Seeing Symmetry is a stimulating concept book, a picture book that explores many aspects of
the mathematical concept of symmetry. In addition to tackling line symmetry, Leedy
also explores rotational symmetry and explains asymmetry. Although the pages are a bit crowded, the
images clearly support the text and have great "kid appeal".
The choice of images reflects diversity and young readers’ interests. For example, the double-page spread focusing on symmetry in art includes a Mexican paper-cut banner, an African mask, Pennsylvania German fraktur painting, Mimbres pottery, medieval stained glass, Chinese lattice work, a Haida totem pole, a Japanese ternari ball, and a Turkish kilim rug. Iconic images of the Taj Mahal, Hilton Head Island lighthouse, and the Lincoln Monument are used to point out the symmetry found in architecture. Other images range from sea turtles to ballerinas.
Grace Wilkie, a mathematics expert with impressive credentials (including being a past president of the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State and New York State Mathematics Honor Society), reviewed this book for accuracy. The book meets the Common Core State Standards for fourth-grade mathematics (although the notice printed in the book contains errors: "This books meets the Common Core..."), and a typo ("their" instead of "there") that occurs on page 7.
The choice of images reflects diversity and young readers’ interests. For example, the double-page spread focusing on symmetry in art includes a Mexican paper-cut banner, an African mask, Pennsylvania German fraktur painting, Mimbres pottery, medieval stained glass, Chinese lattice work, a Haida totem pole, a Japanese ternari ball, and a Turkish kilim rug. Iconic images of the Taj Mahal, Hilton Head Island lighthouse, and the Lincoln Monument are used to point out the symmetry found in architecture. Other images range from sea turtles to ballerinas.
Grace Wilkie, a mathematics expert with impressive credentials (including being a past president of the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State and New York State Mathematics Honor Society), reviewed this book for accuracy. The book meets the Common Core State Standards for fourth-grade mathematics (although the notice printed in the book contains errors: "This books meets the Common Core..."), and a typo ("their" instead of "there") that occurs on page 7.
E-BNe Hilary
Welliver Mathematics, Symmetry, Ratio and proportion
