I’m a huge proponent of literature based learning – in EVERY subject.
Yes, even math and science! What better way to learn skills and facts than in the context in which they were developed or discovered, or in a story where they’re actually being used? I’ve always used literature to supplement our studies in these subjects: biographies of famous scientists and mathematicians, fun “math adventure” books, etc.
Rabbits, Rabbits Everywhere from Ann McCallum Books falls into that latter category. It’s a fun picture book designed to teach the concept of the Fibonacci sequence to young children through a story. The Fibonacci sequence is a pattern of numbers in which each number equals the sum of the previous two numbers (so: 0…1…1…2…3…5…8…13…21 and so on). This pattern can be seen all around us in nature, so it’s a fun concept to teach to young students!
The book tells the story of the residents of Chee, the Pied Piper’s hometown, and their amazing bounty of crops. Each week, the people take a portion of the bounty to the wizard on the hill, who they believe is responsible for their good fortune. Unfortunately, the town hero the Pied Piper decides the wizard should grow his own food, and begins to hide the food and tell the wizard there’s no extra. Soon, an epidemic of rabbits wreaks havoc on the crops as they multiply in number each day and munch on everything in sight. A little girl named Amanda has to figure out the pattern so that the spell can be broken before the crops are destroyed and the town starves.
My younger two and I really enjoyed this story! It’s an entertaining and clever way to illustrate this math principle, and the illustrations are colorful and charming. I appreciated the included endnote that explains that Fibonacci was the real person who discovered this pattern, and then gives several examples around us to point out (including our own hand!).
Rabbits, Rabbits Everywhere is definitely a valuable addition to our “living books” collection of math adventures!
Click the graphic below to read what other families thought of this title and several others by Ann McCallum.
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