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MathStart Level 1
Mighty Maddie (Mathstart: Level 1
Maddie's room is a mess.
Maddie's toys are everywhere.
And Maddie has to clean them up before her birthday party starts.
This looks like a job for ... MIGHTY MADDIE!
Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a vacuum cleaner, Mighty Maddie, the room-cleaning superhero, gives readers a playful lesson about the difference between light and heavy.
About the Author:
Stuart J. Murphy is a visual learning specialist. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, he has a strong background in design and art direction. He also has extensive experience in the world of educational publishing. Drawing on all these talents, Stuart J. Murphy brings a unique perspective to the MathStart series. In MathStart books, pictures do more than tell stories; they teach math.
Stuart J. Murphy and his wife, Nancy, live in Boston.
32 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 2004
About the author
Stuart J. Murphy
167 books60 followersPICTURES & WORDS, STORIES & BOOKS
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com
I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.
I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.
I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.
MATHSTART
The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.
The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.
Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )
THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL
Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”
STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN
My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.
I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.
Each book is reviewed by a tea
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com
I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.
I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.
I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.
MATHSTART
The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.
The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.
Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )
THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL
Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”
STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN
My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.
I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.
Each book is reviewed by a tea
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 16, 2008
I just learned about these books by Murphy, and that our library has all of them. They're for a little bit younger audience than I'm looking for right now, but I thought they were pretty good. They have many different illustrators, which felt inconsistent at first, but I guess it works out OK.
Mighty Maddie was about heavy, heavier, light, lighter, which is a rather abstract concept for preschoolers. It was presented well.
Each book has suggested activities and other books to complement the topic presented.
The books suggested in this one that I'd like to read are The Dragon's Scales by Sarah Albee, and The 100 Pound Problem by Jennifer Dussling.
Mighty Maddie was about heavy, heavier, light, lighter, which is a rather abstract concept for preschoolers. It was presented well.
Each book has suggested activities and other books to complement the topic presented.
The books suggested in this one that I'd like to read are The Dragon's Scales by Sarah Albee, and The 100 Pound Problem by Jennifer Dussling.
November 13, 2025
Maddie has to clean up the house before her guests arrive for her party. She must be Mighty Maddie to get everything put away in time. As she cleans she compares the various things and whether they are heavy or light.
I liked that Maddie got things cleaned up, but not sure I like that she shoved things under her bed instead of putting it in boxes for her dad to put in her closet (though considering the amount of stuff she had, under the bed is probably safer and she may have saved her dad’s back). Maddie cleans up common items that kids should readily be able to identify as lighter or heavier. A decent introduction to the basics of the concepts of lighter and heavier. But adults may want to talk to young readers about whether Maddie should have shoved everything under her bed or not.
I liked that Maddie got things cleaned up, but not sure I like that she shoved things under her bed instead of putting it in boxes for her dad to put in her closet (though considering the amount of stuff she had, under the bed is probably safer and she may have saved her dad’s back). Maddie cleans up common items that kids should readily be able to identify as lighter or heavier. A decent introduction to the basics of the concepts of lighter and heavier. But adults may want to talk to young readers about whether Maddie should have shoved everything under her bed or not.
June 13, 2022
Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: Lower Elementary (K-1)
This is a great book to teach young children about comparing weights. I really liked how it uses examples of things that are small and heavy and things that are big and light because I feel like children often assume smaller things are always lighter or bigger things are always heavier when that is not the case. While we think Maddie is cleaning up her toys, the ending tells us otherwise. It made me laugh. I think I will read this book to my kindergarteners next year during our measurement unit. Overall, I would give it 4 stars.
Grade Level: Lower Elementary (K-1)
This is a great book to teach young children about comparing weights. I really liked how it uses examples of things that are small and heavy and things that are big and light because I feel like children often assume smaller things are always lighter or bigger things are always heavier when that is not the case. While we think Maddie is cleaning up her toys, the ending tells us otherwise. It made me laugh. I think I will read this book to my kindergarteners next year during our measurement unit. Overall, I would give it 4 stars.
July 13, 2021
Mighty Maddie is mighty because she is so good and fast at cleaning up her room. But shhhhhh, she didn't really clean up her room, she actually just hid the mess under her bed. But she's super amazing and mighty, yay!!!
This book is not only confusing and disconnected from reality (what is good and what is not good -- is she mighty and amazing or not?) but it teaches children terrible ideas, like hiding messes under their beds instead of actually cleaning their rooms.
This book is not only confusing and disconnected from reality (what is good and what is not good -- is she mighty and amazing or not?) but it teaches children terrible ideas, like hiding messes under their beds instead of actually cleaning their rooms.
February 26, 2026
Heavy and Light
I don't know why, but the kids at story time loved this one
I don't know why, but the kids at story time loved this one
March 11, 2012
This is a short and interesting story that teaches about comparative weights within the context of the tale about picking up toys. I think most children would be able to understand the concept and empathize with Maddie's task. Both of our girls have been studying about comparative weights, although, our oldest is getting more detailed instruction at this point. Still, the story has its merits. Our girls could relate to Maddie and they loved the colorful, cartoonish illustrations.
We enjoyed reading this book together, but I think I will try to focus on getting more of the higher level Mathstart books, since the books like this one in MathStart Level 1 seem to be almost too easy for our girls.
We enjoyed reading this book together, but I think I will try to focus on getting more of the higher level Mathstart books, since the books like this one in MathStart Level 1 seem to be almost too easy for our girls.
December 19, 2009
I love how this book teaches kids about math without them realizing it, but was disappointed with the way it also taught irresponsibility...
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April 3, 2013This book can be used for grades kindergarten through second grade. It can be used to discuss comparing. It compares the weights of the objects while she is cleaning up her room.
December 23, 2013
STEM book about weight. Not very exciting, but could work to demonstrate to young children the difference between light and heavy. Nice extras for parents in the back.
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April 2, 2019Picture Book. This books is great to teach about weight. concepts of heavier and lighter. The book allowed students to actively participate through the reading activity.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews