Math Strategies That Multiply: The Best of Times by Greg Tang

by Greg Tang

The author of The Grapes of Math and Math for All Seasons continues his crusade to make math make sense by taking on the biggest of math the multiplication tables! Greg Tang's proven methods--giving kids tools rather than rules and more memorization--pay off once again, as he uses rhymes and commonsense tricks to walk through the multiplication tables from zero to 10. For example, if you know how to multiply by two ("Two is very fast and fun, quickly double and you're done. What's that you say, be more precise? Okay then, just add it twice!"), then fours ("... please just always double twice!") and eights ("... doubling three times works just great!") should be a cinch. Some of the rhymes are even as clever as Tang's Over a panda pool game, he advises, "Nine is faster to compute if at first you overshoot. Here's a very clever tack, do 10 times and then subtract! What is 9 x 9? It's ten 9's minus 9.... What is 9 x 7? It's ten 7's minus 7."

Tang's text makes for a fun read-along, and illustrator Harry Briggs keeps things interesting with his computer-generated, animal-inspired spreads, with dancing chickens, ice-cream-flinging monkeys, and a fortunetelling cat. Kids won't feel left out of the action each section ends with a couple of challenges, and a key in the back spells out all the answers. (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Childrens, Multiplication, Nonfiction, Education, School

Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[JustOneMoreBook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catchy, four-line rhymes and an energetic animal cast aim to take the sting out of multiplication long before the onset of Times Table Torture.

You can listen in on our chat about this book on our Just One More Book! Children's Book Podcast.

More math on JOMB:
On the Scale, a Weighty Tale
Missing Math (A Number Mystery)
A Very Improbable Story
Full House: An Invitation to Fractions

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[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brightly illustrated introduction to multiplication. I love the playful way that grouping in presented. With some objects to reinforce those of us who are kinesthetic this would be a big hit. I think I have finally figured out that magic nine thing with the help of this book.

[Tonya Pember · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg Tang's books are the BEST for introducing new concepts. Perfect integration of literature and math.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to figure out your 0-10s multiplication facts with brain tricks.

[Li]

Very helpful to 3rd and 4th graders in multiplication.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've seen counting board books, but something for the elementary age I don't recall seeing before. Yay!

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little rhymes and tricks to help kids learn multiplication.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

We've read most of the math books by Greg Tang and we've really liked them. He has created books that will educate and entertain children from ages 3 on up. Some of the books are very simple counting books, while others, like this one, have more advanced and complicated math involved.

Our girls are probably a little young for this book, but I helped them with the harder sums. I believe they grasped the concepts of all of the multiples in this book, but the pages dealing with multiples of four through nine were harder for them and they had trouble doing the work in their heads. I think if we sit down with some paper and pencils, they will be able to get these processes down easily. I wish I had learned these concepts when I was younger. I was so proud of my memorization skills in third grade, but this is just common sense!

We still have one more book of his to go: Math-terpieces. After that, we will have to hope that either he writes more books or that we can find other similarly entertaining math books at our local library!

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Reaction: This book has really fun rhymes and illustrations. Rhymes are super fun and they actually really help to grasp the math concepts presented in them. I love the parallel the title has to Dickens' Great Expectations first line of "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I like how the word times can be used in multiple ways and the title of this is meant to be a pun that only adults will understand which I think if really fun.

Purposes: Great book to look at if students are having trouble with multiplication. It is not stressful for the child to look at this fun book, but it will also help them to figure out some unique ways to multiply. The math lessons that this book presents could be easily integrated into a math lesson for 3rd and 4th graders. The rhymes make it fun and interesting for the students and will also get them really thinking about multiplication in a fun and different light.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about multiplying numbers 0-10. Its bold illustrations and catchy rhymes make multiplication seem less scary! For each number, there is a multiplication problem that goes along with the rhyme. Each multiplication problem has a picture to go along with it for those who learn better visually. Also, at the end of each page there are challenge questions for kids to try out. I also like that it includes practice tables in the back! This book could become a fun twist on a multiplication lesson, rather than just reviewing and memorizing times tables.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read for students who are learning multiplication! The pictures help to reel students in and also breaks down basic number facts for its readers. With the CRCT approaching, I've noticed that my students are struggling with multiplication facts. This could serve as a great activating strategy to a math lesson. It's important to me that my students not only memorize the facts, but also understand their origin. Thee illustrations in this book help to do just that.

[Chelsea Ulrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great book of scaffolding ideas on how to multiply in kid friendly terms. Children can read this book and see the different ways that they can multiply other than just knowing their times tables. I see several invented strategies and partial multiplication which would be something that students could benefit from seeing. The pictures and the methods in this book were very helpful.

[Jenny D]

This book of rhymes gives students mnemonic devices for learning their times tables. Challenge them to come up with examples other than those that are in the book to provide more examples. Once students have an understanding of multiplication rules, they can also come up with their own rhymes. Create a class book of new rhymes to describe multiplication rules. Alternatively, create a sequel for rules for addition, subtraction, or division.

[Christina Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a great job of building strategies to use when doing mulitiplication. This text can be used in an introduction to a multiplication lesson. Students will be able to explore the book, follow the riddles and come up with ways to reason with mathematics and multiplying. Children are encouraged to think about solving problems mathematically instead of memomizing times tables. This book is very creative and I'm sure students will enjoy it.

[Randi Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to introduce strategies about mulitiplication. It uses riddles as a way to help students develop these strategies instead of flash cards and mulitplication. As we discussed in class, when students have a strategy and really understand the concept of mulitplication they will not forget their "times tables" and this books allows them to make a conceptual understanding while using riddles.

[Japonika Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a great job of displaying strategies to use when doing mulitiplication. This text can be used as an introduction to a multiplication lesson. Students are be able to explore the book and do the riddles and come up with several ways to reason with mathematics and multiplying. Children are encouraged to be inventive about solving problems mathematically instead of memomizing times tables or algorithms. This book is very creative and it is something that students will enjoy.

[Hailey Dellinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best of Times is a great book to use in the classroom when learning about multiplying numbers 0-10. I really like the combination of rhymes to make multiplication concepts easier to learn. I love how each number has their own rhyme that is catchy and helps students remember ways to multiply. I really enjoyed the challenge questions at the end of each page for additional practice or that you could use for further practice in a lesson. Great fun way for multiplying!!

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started out fun like the previous books by this author however things got a little complicated. When presenting multiplication by five they ask the reader to first multiply by 10, something they don't cover until several pages later. And the trick for seven just seemed cumbersome. Otherwise a good book with good tips.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A math book with fun rhymes, nice illustrations, which teaches how to multiply in a fun (although sometimes different way than I ever learned). My 5 year old son loved it, so I was very impressed. We read it multiple times in the days we had it from the library. For reluctant math students, maybe a good tool. Especially for those who are visual learners, I'd bet.

[Jessica Vu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers students different techniques and strategies for multiplication. It uses strategies I'm not familiar with but they make since and perhaps they will help math "click" for certain students.

For example. 7x7 is five sevens (35) pluse 2 sevens (14) equals 49



Offering students different strategies

[Jennifer Borduin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a little difficult for me to follow. While some of the tricks to multiplication are very useful, some are just flat out confusing, and even more work than necessary! The back pages have multiplications through 10 listed, which is nice. All in all, I wouldn't have this book in my classroom.

[Ashley P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tang again uses riddles and fun to help kids learn multiplication. He teaches tool sand strategies rather than memorization. For example, for nmbers multiplied by nine, Tang recounts, "Nine is faster to compute, if at first you overshoot. Here's a very clever tack, do ten times and then subtract. What is 9x9? It's ten nines, minus nine.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a clever book about using different strategies in multiplication. The book uses rhyme to help give children clues about easy ways to solve multiplication problems. The emphasis in the book is on strategies, not memorization. Students will understand multiplication more after reading this book than by looking through a series of flash cards.

[Bekkah Riecke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way this book is written really makes the multiplication strategies sound fun and the author provides several examples on each page with answers in the back. I was really impressed. This book might not be a good choice for a read aloud, but it would be a fun way to introduce various multiplication strategies in small group mini lessons.

[Dianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best of Times by Greg Tang. Read with the kids for school. Learned several tricks that make doing the multiplication tables so much easier. Some seem confusing at first, but after doing the sample problems on the pages, they make complete sense. If for nothing more than the 8's, this book is worth the time. Learned many tricks myself and I could see things actually "click" with the kids.

[Latifah Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for describing additons relationship to multiplication. I just worry that this book will confuse many students learning multiplication. So, this book would be good for 4th or 5th graders who already understand multiplication who are learning to connect it to other math strategies.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Level: Primary

A rhyming book that provides insight into multiplication patterns.

This book is another good book for helping students who struggle with math. The rhyme pattern and clues help students to make sense of how to find patterns when multiplying basic numbers.

[Hye Eun · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can use this book when teaching multiplication. It doesn't really have a story but it gives you strategies on how to multiply numbers. It also gives you examples in the story and at the end. It shows strategies like using repeated addition. Grade 2-3

[Tanika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful story that helps children do multiplication. It gives them strategic ways of doing multiplication that they can remember. The book also has fun rhyming sentences and funny, colorful pictures so it is easier to remember the concept.

[Jeri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book that has Tang's signature rhymes that teach math concepts and tricks to look at things in a different way. When I'm ready to teach another way to look at/do multiplication, I'll pick this up for my oldest.