I See a Pattern Here

by Bruce Goldstone

Patterns are fascinating! They can be so beautiful that people come from all over the world to see them, or so familiar you hardly notice them. They appear everywhere: beehives, dinner plates, even the bottoms of your shoes!

With stunning photographs that show diverse examples from nature and artwork around the world, Bruce Goldstone reveals the secrets behind patterns―and gives you some fun ideas for making your own.

This title has Common Core connections.

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Art, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2015

About the author

Bruce Goldstone is the author of several books, including 100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days, Great Estimations, Greater Estimations and The Beastly Feast. He has worked in educational publishing for nearly twenty years. Growing up in Ohio, Bruce fell in love with reading and the magic of words, and even back then he knew he wanted to be a writer. Books have always been an important part of his life, from buying used paperbacks to his first job, shelving books as a library page. He now lives in New York City with a plethora of pets including one dog, three parakeets, and an aquarium.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/bruceg...

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I brought this book home to peruse, and my 5yo decided that he loved it and it was his favorite book of all time. We read this math/patterns book at bedtime so many times that I actually kind of wanted to cry. It's not a bad book--it's decently interesting and incorporates patterns from a lot of different cultures, which is neat. Is it bedtime material? No, not really. Did I ever intend to read it more than once? Definitely not. But wouldn't you know it--my kindergartener now talks about slide patters, flip patterns, and symmetry. So three exhausted stars from me, five from his spongy little brain, I'll average it out to four.

[Maggie Mattmiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love that this book showed various kinds of patterns in bright colors and fun designs! What I love even more is that the patterns were then tied to math, and showed the math language that is used for the various aspects of the patterns, without being in your face. Definitely a fun one for a classroom.

[Joanne Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastically innovative guide to seeing patterns in our environment, either natural or manmade. and for creating your own. Fun presentation with vivid photos plus quizzes and challenges throughout. Includes "math-speak" terms for reflection, rotation, tessellation, etc.

[Ashley Lavoie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interactive, engaging non-fiction success
I See A Pattern Here by Bruce Goldstone is a great read! Mr. Goldstone wants the reader to become more educated on patterns and “math talk” terms. This book shows patterns in a very pleasing way with lots of colors and variation. There are lots of pictures and examples where the reader must finish the pattern in their head or find the mistake in the pattern. My favorite part was how the book used actual pictures from things students would see in their everyday life such as the pattern on the bottom of their shoes, tires, and mittens. I would suggest this book be read by 2nd or 3rd graders. There is some advanced vocabulary that I think students that are younger would have trouble understanding. This book would be a great addition to a classroom and could strike up a lot of meaningful dialogue between the students if they peer read this. In the back of the book, it even suggests ways for students to create their own patterns! This could act as a final project for the unit. Overall, I thought this book was packed with meaningful information and visuals. I loved it! I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a book on patterns!

[Erika Powers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, good idea but poorly executed. It would be good for a basic idea to rewrite into a better book. The pictures and diagrams are age levels below the writing. Its hard to tell what age group this is for. The pictures look like they are for a little kids who wouldn't understand the words or ideas behind patterns. Plus The author used words like squish it, and stretch it which are completely not math related or pattern related. Doesnt follow the theme of the book. Even some of the pictures are too advanced for little kids to find a pattern. Like a Chinese dragon face is pretty advanced for a 3 to 5 year old which is what the rest of the picture levels are at.

[Paul Dilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter came home last Wednesday super excited that she was finally able to check out this book from her school library. It’s basically a conceptual introduction to geometric translations and transformations, with some very intuitive descriptions. But what I found really cool were the images of both human and natural objects used to illustrate the various resulting patterns – many from ancient and medieval art and architecture. So proud of my daughter for being so excited about this book!

[Stephanie Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect book to teach kids about the principles of patterns. Photos are bright and beautiful. The book does a nice job of mixing it up and showing that patterns can be found in nature and everyday objects as well as artwork. Covers repetitions, translations, rotations, reflections, symmetry and scaling, all in kid-friendly language, though he includes the actual terms in "mathspeak" bubbles throughout the book. The ideas at the end for kids to try out their own patterns are nice.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does a great job of introducing patterns and what they are. I like how the book also challenges the reader to examine the pattern given and then continue it while it gives the answers in the back. This book also provides math terms that relate to the pattern that is displayed such as the flipping flamingos illustrating reflections. Plus, there are activities in the back would be very fun to incorporate into lessons!

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tries to introduce a lot in one book -- repeating patterns, most kinds of transformations of shapes, common types of art around the world that include patterns and tools for creating them.

Does a good job of highlighting patterns in the art of many cultures.

Not really any growing patterns (at least not explicitly), and I think the focus is more on transformations in many ways.

[Trina Stets]

I love this book about patterns for children. It allows them to see different ones and how they are in everything. A really nice picture book.

[Annie MacPherson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love geometry! Great book for visual learners!

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Noticing patterns in nature or in the world around them can help younsters learn concepts important in mathematics. In this book, filled with a myriad of photographs of patterns, readers learn how to identify patterns and guess which object will come next. The author suggests sliding, turning, and flipping an object to make another type of pattern. One of my favorite sections involved patterns that rely on the same shape but in varying sizes. As a quilt lover, I also enjoyed the emphasis on color as well as shape, something illustrated perfectly with the different patterns possible in putting together a Sawtooth Star quilt. By showing what happens when four quilt blocks are combined, the author vividly demonstrates that patterns have many different possibilities. This is a great introduction to the concepts being explored here.

[Joshua Tetreau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I See A Pattern Here is a informational text designed for kids. The book strives to teach kids the science behind patterns, and make readers realize how many patterns there are. Not only does it define and describe patterns, but it also provides plenty of pictures, gives at home activities, and provides plenty of resources so that all ages can enjoy.
The book is well thought out and designed very nicely. Pictures mostly fill the pages, with text centered at either the top or the bottom of the pages. There are also text boxes that provide plenty of fun information for the reader as well. This book also has a whole section called "MathSpeak", which teaches mathematical truth along with patterns. From 2nd grade on, students can really learn a lot about what patterns are through this book.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cool book! It introduces the idea of patterns to (probably) some of the Very Young Ones, and makes it interesting. Then it allows for a re-read a couple years later, learning the actual mathematical names for the pattern "techniques" introduced in the simpler text.
But everything is very, very understandable. The pictures are clear, the text is concise, the examples shown are representative of the concepts just explained (and also cover a wide variety of countries and cultures!) and as a whole I think the book works very well.
A++, 4.5 stars! (Because I am VERY stingy with my 5s!)

[NYC Reads 365 · Rating 5 out of 5]

"How are patterns established? How do other cultures use patterns in buildings and clothing? Can you see patterns in mammals, rugs, blankets? Are there patterns in math? How do math patterns relate to everyday life? By observing normal objects through the wider perspective of the surrounding environment, the reader sees a kaleidoscope of patterns in life. This beautifully-photographed read is full of a wealth of vocabulary, math nuances, art, architecture, cultural objects and science terms. Read this book to be inspired artistically and intellectually."

[Livvie Esslinger]

Goldstone does a brilliant job describing what a pattern is, when and where they are used, their characteristics, great examples, and how to make your own.

This book is super informational! It covers every basis.

I picked this book because I would for sure use it when doing a lesson using patterns. It uses descriptive and bright illustrations to capture the reader's attention and to allow them to more easily grasp the concept. It spells it out for them perfectly! The examples would be an extremely helpful source!

[Rebecca]

Introduces, in simple terms, the concept of pattern and some of the many ways to create patterns. Goldstone’s photos show patterns both natural and manufactured, highlighting slide patterns, flipped patterns, and more. MathSpeak text boxes give mathematical terms for the different concepts explored, such as transformation, scaling, and symmetry. Great for use in the classroom—can be followed up by looking for patterns around the classroom or playground.

[Rebecca Plaza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tessellation" slide patterns, well illustrated math applied book on patterns.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars as a Photographer, I love texture and pattern. It is sometimes my favorite part of taking a picture. This book was really fun for me. It also would be a really fun way to teach some math concept such as symmetry, tessellation (my favorite consept in geometry) Great picture! Easy explanations!

[Turrean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photography! The pattern types are clearly and logically explained, and the examples are perfect. Perfect for art lessons, to accompany a picture book on patterns in mathematics, quilting, Fibonacci..lots of applications!

[CanadianReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is visually appealing but the concepts are complex and not always adequately explained. ("Translation" in particular. It is described as "sliding" and a brick wall is shown. For literal minded younger readers, no actual sliding is evident.)

[Robin Raines-Bond · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wide variety of beautiful colors and patterns are shown in this book. It also has related "Math Speak" bubbles to explain concepts like transformation, rotation, symmetry, etc. Very interesting read.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cool book to look at and experience, blending visual patterns and math concepts, inventively using all kinds of images to illustrate the concept. Especially look for the tessellating walrus tile - extraordinarily beautiful and fun to say!

[Ampersand Inc. · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Ali:
***

From Dot:
***

From Judy:
****

From Saffron:
Beautiful images! *****

[Kelly]

Excellent for patterns and related math vocab - sliding, translate, rotate, scale, tesselation. Bright colorful pictures.

[Sue]

Patterns, Scale, Perception

[Paula Hollohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for math and art from K-6 - there is something for everyone. Give your students some digital cameras and let them loose after looking through this great book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different, non-fiction. Cool pictures.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another excellent Bruce Goldstone book about math, and it provides fabulous photos and vocabulary for young math students that will extend the typical classroom instruction about patterns.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best of 2015