Toads and Tessellations

About the Book

Enzo is the son of a great magician, however unlike his father, his spells create chaos instead of order. What really interests Enzo, more than books about magic, are books by and about the lives of famous physicists and astronomers like Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler. Enzo dreams not of becoming a magician, but a mathematician instead. When Tessel, the village shoemaker, is called upon to make twelve identical shoes out of only one piece of leather, Aida, the shoemaker’s sister, goes to Enzo’s father for some magic to help her brother. With Enzo’s father out of town at a magic convention, it’s up to Enzo to help Aida and Tessel out of their predicament. A spell snafu leads Enzo and Aida to a method of forming patterns without gaps or overlaps, and they discover that math, not magic, may be the answer to their problem. Sharon Morisette’s accessible text introduces readers to the concept of tessellations, while Philomena O’Neill’s illustrations offer a clear visual to what tiling is—children will enjoy finding the tessellations hidden throughout the images. Back matter includes a glossary and notes about tessellations, Galileo, and Kepler.
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Excerpt

Toads and Tessellations

Enzo studied magic books, as his papa asked. But in secret he read others, as well: books by great astronomers, mathematicians, and physicists. “Oh, to someday be a grande matematico, like Galileo Galilei or Johannes Kepler,” he dreamed, as he watched the stars wheel through the sky.

Charlesbridge Math Adventures Series

Fractions in Disguise
Toads and Tessellations
The Multiplying Menace Divides
Pythagoras and the Ratios
A Very Improbable Story
Rabbits Rabbits Everywhere
Zachary Zormer
Multiplying Menace
Equal Shmequal
What's Your Angle, Pythagoras?
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About the Author

Sharon Morrisette
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About the Author

Philomena O'Neill
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