My Full Moon Is Square

by Elinor J. Pinczes, Randall Enos (Illustrator)

The moon changes phases, of this, we’re aware; but who ever heard of a full moon that’s square?
It appears at the pond on the darkest of nights, when the bright little fireflies turn on their lights.

It’s hard to read after dark, and a frog at the local pond is having just that problem. Realizing the frog’s dilemma, a number of bright fireflies offer to help by illuminating the sky above him with both derring-do and a knack for mathematical precision. Through a series of square formations, the flies tirelessly search for the right equation to light the pond on a moonless night. Children will learn with ease from this creative tale about the power of co-operation and simple math.

Genres: Mathematics, Animals, Science, Picture Books, Multiplication, Childrens, Counting

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2002

Reviews

[Ali Hembree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This rhyming story is about fireflies helping to light up the sky so the frog can read a night time story.

I can use this book in my classroom when teaching about multiplication. Each time you add a row to the square, you can multiply the number of rows by the number of columns. Also, when there is a perfect square, I can teach the students about squaring numbers.

In a science sense, I can use this book to teach about the different habitats and what animals live there. Also, I could teach about the food chain and how frogs eat fireflies.

In an English sense, I could use this book to further the teachings of rhyming words and how to create rhyming words.

[Wendy Jones]

This is book is about a frog reading a story by the moonlight, and when the moon goes behind a cloud needing a different light to read by. Fireflies come and begin to form squares to help give him light. As the story goes on, the number of fireflies continues to increase going into larger square formations. It has a cute story line, but also can be used for a great math lesson on square numbers. I love how engaging the story is! I also love how easily you can use manipulatives along with story to help the kids really see the square numbers.

[Caitlin Barclay]

This is a wonderful book to use to have students see where squaring numbers comes in handy! The frog thinks he's clever by asking the flies to add another row each time but the flies are too quick for him. With each new row of flies, students can determine how mnay flies there will be and which square number it will be. Maybe students won't be squaring the number of flies to use as lights but this provides a real world connection with a math concept.

[Averie Digiacomo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fun rhyming tale that I personally believe elementary students would enjoy. In my opinion it is an upper-elementary grade book. It uses math by counting in rows. This book would go well with a multiplication lesson. I believe that in order for the students to receive the most information possible from the book, the teacher should ask questions to the students while they read as well as explain what is going on in the story.

[Rodopa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story about a frog that needs light to read, and gets to do that with the help of some cautious fireflies, who form a square by adding equal row and columns in their fiery dance above the frog's head. Nice way to reach that a square has equal sides .

[Andrea M · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is a frog to do when the clouds cover the moon and he can't read his book the Blue Kangaroo? It's the perfect time to have fireflies for friends!

[Michaela Klegseth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A frog who likes learning needs light from the moon to read and when the moon did not show flies that like him helped him out. It shows that any one or any thing can help you when you may need it.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A frog is reading by moonlight until their isn't enough moonlight any more. Several fireflies gather in a square to help. Lots of math and cute story but a little long so preschool or one on one.

[Chanelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was excellent for students learning about perfect squares (4,9,16,25,36,49,64,81,100). The frog is trying to read a book before he goes to sleep but doesn't have enough light to see. The frog decides to ask the fireflies(lightning bugs) to help so they decide to create a square moon. First, there are four lightning bugs but it was not enough light so then they added on five more lightning bugs. Of course it still was not enough light. Eventually, 100 lightning bugs come together to form the largest moon ever and it was bright enough for the frog to be able to read his book. A great activity would to actually give students square tiles and add on the amount of fireflies (lightning bugs) on to it as he book goes along. They will then have their AHA! moment when they notice how their square is getting bigger and bigger.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book, My Full Moon is Square is about a frog that enjoys reading under the light of the moon, but when the moon is blocked by clouds the fireflies help the frog light up his night in order for him to read. This book is wonderful to use on a math lesson regarding multiplication and the use of arrays. Students will be able to count the number of rows and columns the fireflies make and us their own manipulatives to make their arrays along with the fireflies. This lesson could be used with students in second to third grade. I could also use this book in a lesson on science and teach student about the habitats of the characters in the story such as frogs and fireflies. A lesson on the food chain could also be taught, because it hints on the fireflies being afraid to be eaten by the frog.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining story that demonstrates the squaring of numbers and the depicts mathematically and visually this concept. The story is interesting and the rhyming narrative is fun, but I kept waiting for the frog to change his mind and eat a few of the flies while he read. Some of the rhymes are a little forced, but overall the tale is fun to read aloud. The beautiful woodcut illustrations complement the story nicely and we enjoyed reading this story together.

We've enjoyed reading the math-based books by Elinor J. Pinczes and we will certainly look for more of her books at our local library.

[Janice Redding · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book to discuss multiplication and division as it talked about grouping. I can use this book to point out making perfect squares. This is a good book to introduce math terms to students as well. In addition, this book talks about grouping such as 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, and 10x10. When I would talk about 2 by 2, I can teach it as 2 across and 2 down; and then I can talk about an array. It can be an engaging lesson where students can predict the next number. I believe this book is suggested for fourth or fifth grade.

[Whitney Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a tale of how a community in a pond rely on one another and also incorporates a creative way to introduce math.
This tale uses a frog who needs a way to see at night and ends up being helped by "perfect squares" of lightning bugs.

There are many adventures within this book and is a great read for students to create:

Array
Area
Multiplication
Squares/ Perfect squares

Upper elementary grades could use this book to help demonstrate different types of arrays and ways of modeling problems.

[Raenie Brown]

Another great math concept book from this author. Again it's a good way to solidify the concepts that you might be going over in the classroom. The book follows a frog that is trying to read but it is too dark, so to help him out fire flies start forming squares of light. Through out the story the frog works time find the right combination( equation) that gives him the best light to read. I think a fun activity to do with this book is to have student work out the problems as they go to see if they can figure out the right equation for the frog.

[Jennifer Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an engaging and adorable book that is surely to excite students! This book is about a frog who cannot read because he has no light during the night time. The fireflies who look forward to hearing the story agree to help the frog out. This is a good book to teach shapes (squares) and also addition. The students can also use manipulatives and create their own squares as well as they follow along with the story. There is also an unexpected ending that will surely leave a good impression on everybody.

[Megan Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be a perfect lesson opener about numbers that make perfect squares. The plot is adorable, and until the end my classmates and I were in suspense because we thought that the frog was going to eat the lightning bugs. The illustrations provide a visual for students to see how these numbers make perfect squares. For example, when there were 25 lightning bugs in the sky they were arranged in a square with 5 rows and 5 columns. If I were to do a lesso with this, joule have the kids use counters to make the perfect squares as I was reading the book.

[Shakita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book can be used when students are introduced to arrays. This book was fun and showed how we make arrays. This book also showed perfect squares which students will work on in math also. I loved how this book went about making the arrays. The children could follow along with the book in making their own arrays as well and see what they notice about their array. This book also had rhyming in it.

[Zilha B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a frog who wants to read a book, but is unable to see well. The fireflies offer to help by making a square moon in different sizes until 100 fireflies got together and made enough light for the frog to read his book.. This is a great book to learn about perfect squares. Students can learn how to form perfect squares by using the diagrams of the square moon in the book. An extension activity could be for students to form their own perfect square of fireflies.

[Nausheen Ukani]

This is a perfect book for introducing perfect squares! The book is all about a frog who wants to read but doesn't have enough light, so he uses the light of lightning bugs. The bugs create square patterns and continue increasing the number of lightning bugs so the frog can see his book. I would use this book to introduce perfect squares and go back through the book and have students look for the pattern or rule they see occurring.

[Oanh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a frog who tries to read at night but can't because it's too dark. With the help of some fireflies, they devise a way to help light up the night so the frog can read. This story would be a creative way to teach students about perfect squares and multiplication, using the fireflies to create arrays and figuring out the area of the square formation the fireflies arrange themselves in.

[Tasasha Battle]

A frog desperately tries to read but cannot because of the night. There is no sunlight and he is unable to read his book. It is not until the fireflies arrive that the idea of him reading is real. At first there are only a few fireflies that form a square with dim light and eventually more arrive and create a larger perfect square that gives enough light for him to read. In this book students can learn how to make perfect squares form the diagrams provided.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a frog who is trying to read at night and he can't see. So the fireflies help him out by forming a square and shining their lights for him to read. The light isn't bright enough so more fireflies join the formation completing perfect squares.

This book will help children understand how perfect squares work. Placing a visual for learning this math operation will tremendously help students grasp the concept.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a frog that is trying to read and he needs more light to see his book. So he asked the fireflies to make a square moon, however he needs more light so more fire flies keep coming to create a bigger square moon until there is a perfect amount of light, which is 100 fireflies. This is a good book to teach about perfect squares that can be small or large. Also this book could be used to teach about multiplication and grouping numbers.

[Megan Piero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has multiple uses in math. First, students can follow along with manipulatives and create all of the squares in the story. Afterwards, the teacher could begin a lesson on square numbers and explain to children why they are called "square". Second, teachers could have students follow along with manipulatives and then teach about arrays and how we can use repeated addition to find the total numbers of smaller pieces inside.

[Scott Roark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a wonderful job of using a frog and fireflies to introduce square's. The frog can't see, so a firefly helps so he can read. The fireflies end up doubling by rows and columns, thus squares. A spinoff of the book, student's could use the game 'Connect Four' to measure their understanding.

[Nancy Vu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great books to read to students. The fireflies shows squared number by forming arrays. The flies would add rows and columns to brighten the skies for the frog to read. Each time they add a row and column, they total a square number. There are great illustrations which is perfect for 2nd-5th grade.

[Abi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to use to have students learn about arrays and square numbers. The frog in the story asks the flies to add another row each time but the flies are too quick for him. With each new row of flies, students can determine how many flies there will be and which square number it will be. I would give the kids in my class square tiles to interact throughout the book.

[Hatka Kecalovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book can be used for lessons on multiplication, square numbers (2X2, 4X4), and for activities with arrays. This book can be used to introduce the concept of multiplication to students or it can supplement concepts with multiplication. This book can also be used for lessons on rhyming. This book can be used in second grade classrooms.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun tale you can use to introduces arrays and multiplication. The fireflies group together, making arrays, to make light for the frog so he can read them a story. They (the fireflies) make a perfect square as well so that can be introduced by this story. This story can also teach rhyming.

[Maxwoodliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book provides a good way to explain doubles multiplication. There are examples of 2 x 2 rows all the way up to 5 x 5 rows. These examples in the book could help explain how multiplication works and at the very least provide examples for the students to count each firefly. I remember my own fascination with fireflies as a child and this book would have been very engaging for me.