Customer Reviews

The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Crossing the story Alice in Wonderland with a small, red, fiery-tempered devil with a passion for numbers gives you The Number Devil, a perfect tale with funny and curious characters.

Robert hates math, and he gets irritated because his math teacher doesn't allow calculators in class. In addition to that, he has peculiar dreams all the time. Then, one night, completely out of the blue, he dreams about a Number Devil, who takes him away to a fantastic world of numbers. Robert learns all about different mathematical ideas and concepts in a fun way. Over the course of 12 different nights, Robert learns about simple math ideas like factorials, fractions, the importance of zero, and the idea of infinity. But Robert's adventures don't stop there; Robert also learns about more complex things like triangle numbers, Fibonacci numbers, imaginary numbers, and irrational numbers. The Number Devil makes up funny terms in order to explain these to Robert. Square roots are called "rutabagas," prime numbers are "prima donnas," squaring becomes "number hopping," the Fibonacci sequence is called "the Bonacci numbers, " and factorials are named "vrooms."

Did you know that you can take any even number larger than two and find two prime numbers that add up to it? The Number Devil presents different mathematical ideas to Robert, using funny things like furry calculators and coconuts. Even Robert uses what he learns in his dreams in class. For example, the Number Devil uses coconuts to show Robert what triangular numbers are. He uses the coconuts to make triangles on the ground, and he comes up with the first ten triangular numbers: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, and 55. Next, he comes up with a little rule for triangular numbers: Any number greater than 1 can be the sum of two or three triangle numbers. Try 83, for example. It is the sum of 10 + 28 + 45.

Not only does the Number Devil show Robert different math principles, but he takes him to Number Paradise, and there Robert meets different mathematicians like Carl Friedrich Gauss (of course, the Number Devil makes up names for the mathematicians as well, so Gauss is called Professor Horrors), Georg Cantor (Professor Singer), and Leonhard Euler (Owl). Robert also meets Felix Klein (Dr. Happy Little), and he sees the famous 'Klein Bottle' (the Little Bottle). The Number Devil shows how one can't tell the inside of this object from the outside!

I thought this book was very enjoyable and funny. The illustrations were amusing and the characters were hilarious. I especially liked the Number Devil himself. I would give the book an eight out of ten only because some of the concepts described were very elementary, and it became boring for me at times. Overall, I didn't learn a lot, but the little tidbits of information and the more complex ideas were interesting. I would recommend this book for all ages as a good read aloud or for a bedtime reading book. Happy reading!

My 8-yr old son loves this book. It makes some otherwise abstract and difficult mathematical concepts look easy and fun for kids as it explains them in a kid-friendly language. I recommend it even for adults who are scared of math - it might make your life a little easier!

My grandson was thrilled to get this book at Christmas,and he told me it fascinated him so much he read it late into the night because he just could'nt put it down...he thinks its a great book.

I like the way it made it more fun for me to learn how do to the math skills in this book. This book was good, because it was really better learning a math lesson instead of just opening a math book and studying. It was a very fun way to learn how to do the triangle math skill and all the others. This book has very good pictures to help show how Robert learned from the coconuts and the 1's forest. It showed how the Number Devil was a great teacher to Robert and how he was able to understand everything the Number Devil said and taught. This book made it fun for kids my age to learn math skills. The way we read this book is that we read a chapter everynight. When we came in everyday for class we talked about the math in that chapter and that was our lesson in class. It was more fun that just having a teacher sit in his/her desk and not showing us anything of anyway to work these problems. I learned these things the year beforI didn't understand any of it. Now that I have read the book, I really understand everything a lot better that before.

-Chelsea-

I liked and disliked this book because it was a good way for other kids to learn math and get better at reading at the same time. I also disliked this book because it just didn't interest me a lot. Another reason I liked this book is because it showed you how to work math problems in different ways. It taught me that you can make math fun if you make a game out of it or use food to make fractions. This book is an easy, fun book to read. If you get into the book you will like it. And if you like pretzels you will like this book too. By:Justin

The Number Devil is a wonderful adventure about a boy named Robert who was having a hard time in math, and didn't like it at all. I loved all the diffrent math tricks that The Number Devil taught Robert, and how they even found ways to add a little english here and there. If I knew someone that was having a hard time in math, I would refer The Number Devil every time.
Dakista

I like this book because it showed me how to do new math tricks. This book has character.It has funny parts in the book. This book helped me a lot in math. It showed me math could be fun. I learned about metaphors. This is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. It has helped me in math and language. I think this book should win an award.

By:Drake

I like the number because it help you with math. I think the best part is the fibocci. caran

i THINK IF YOU READ THE NUMBER DEVIL YOU WILL LOVE WHAT YOUR READING BUT AT THE SAME TIME YOU WOULD BE LEARNIG AT THE SAME TIME.MOST PARTS IN THE BOOK ARE SO DETAILED YOU ACTUALLY SEE IT IN YOUR MIND.THE MATH PROBLEMS IN IT GO STEP BY STEP ,AND IF YOU READ THE WHOLE BOOK YOU WILL UNDERSTAND MATH MORE. SO JUST GIVE THIS BOOK A CHANCE, BECAUSE I BELEIVE YOU WILL REALLY ENJOY THIS BOOK IT IS A REALLY GREAT BOOK!

The Number Devil is the best book I ever read.I think you shoud read it for yourself.If you don't read The Number Devil your're missing out.