Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Greg Tang challenges kids to solve problems creatively while introducing art history.In his most ground-breaking book since THE BEST OF TIMES (Fall 2002), Greg Tang underscores the importance of four basic rules in problem-solving. Keeping an open mind, looking for unusual number combinations, using multiple skills (like subtracting to add) and looking for patterns, will guarantee any child success in math. In MATH-TERPIECES, Tang continues to challenge kids with his innovative approach to math, and uses art history to expand his vision for creative problem-solving.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Greg Tang presents the fifth book in the series begun with The Grapes of Math, Math-terpieces, illus. by Greg Paprocki. Under a reproduction of a well-known painting, a rhyming text gives information about the artist and poses a mathematical challenge to group objects in various ways; for example, "April Showers" features a Renoir painting titled The Umbrellas, and asks readers to group different numbers of umbrellas to make nine. An inventive way. Kids can bone up on their addition skills while getting an introduction to art history. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1-5-Seminal works of 12 well-known artists are ingeniously paired with mathematical problems written in rhyme. These verbal challenges combine with visual clues from the illustrations to transform simple addition concepts into quick-witted fun. Solutions along with notes on the artwork are included. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gr. 2-4. Tang and Paprocki, who also wrote and illustrated The Best of Times (2002) and Math Appeal (2003), again challenge children to take a playful approach to learning math, using elements from famous paintings by artists such as Matisse, Mondrian, and Warhol. For instance, one double-page spread has a reproduction of Dali's painting The Persistence of Memory and the verse, Is it a dream or is it real? / It's hard to know when art's surreal. / Dali's clocks once so precise-- / now they're melting just like ice. / Find SEVEN ways to make an 8 / group the CLOCKS, it's getting late! Paprocki's more colorful versions of melting clocks are grouped on the facing page, and the groups can be combined in seven different ways that add up to eight clocks. Children drawn to the gamelike element will undoubtedly become more familiar with the paintings, though the main point is combining the sets of objects. This book provides an attractive setting for that activity. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2003 Booklist

Horn Book Review

Each of twelve reproductions of famous paintings faces a descriptive six-line rhyming verse featuring an addition problem. For example, readers are asked to examine groups of Degas-inspired ballet shoes and calculate how many ways they can combine them to make seven. (Solutions are provided at book's end.) Slight vagaries in the verse occasionally leave the math question unclear, but the concept is great. Glos. From HORN BOOK Spring 2004, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

The author of several other highly praised math books has another winner in this combination of math and art history. Each two-page spread contains the reproduction of a famous painting identified by artist and date, a series of rhymed couplets describing the painting and proposing a problem, and a series of objects from the painting that are to be grouped and counted in various ways. A Monet water lily painting is accompanied by several groups of water lilies, and instructions to "Try grouping LILIES to make 8, / FOUR smart ways would be just great!" Dalí's Persistence of Memory is accompanied by a verse entitled "Time Warp," which includes these lines: "Is it a dream or is it real? / It's hard to know when art's surreal." Attractive and intriguing. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.