Calculating Chimpanzees, Brainy Bees, and Other Animals with Mind-Blowing Mathematical Abilities (Extraordinary Animals) by Jaclyn Sinquett, Stephanie Gibeault
Published by MIT Kids Press on 5/7/24
ISBN: 1536230014
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Nonfiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads

Young scientists and mathematicians will love this nonfiction selection.  Each chapter focuses on a different animal, like the guppy, hyena, and the honeybee and the impressive math skills each animal utilizes.  Readers will learn about the experiments that scientists conducted in order to determine the animals’ mathematical skills.  The sections end with a transcript of an interview with that scientist and then a kid-friendly experiment readers can try with a friend, similar to the experiments done with the animals.  Colorful photographs and graphics break up the text and add interest to this book.  Labels for new terminology are introduced in bold and readers who love math will enjoy learning the terms for concepts they are familiar with.  This book would be ideal for 4th-6th graders and would be great for any library, but especially for school libraries.  Teachers could use this book while teaching about nonfiction text features such as captions, table of contents, index, and bibliography.

Reviewed by Lindsay Varnum, Orono Public Library