Sir Cumference and the Off-the-Charts Dessert

by Cindy Neuschwander, Wayne Geehan (Illustrator)

Overview

Join Sir Cumference and the gang for more wordplay, puns, and problem solving in the clever math adventure that introduces readers to  charts and graphs through an annual bake-off.

Sir Cumference and Lady Di need a baker to prepare a special dessert for the annual Harvest Faire. Two bakers compete to see whose dessert is most popular. When Pia of Chartres and Bart Graf have trouble keeping track of the votes their desserts receive, they each develop a better system. Pia places a colored candy around the edges of a pie dough (like a pie chart), and Bart stacks up cookie tins (making a 3D bar graph). When there's a tie, the two chefs cook up a hybrid dessert just in time for the Faire. Puns--both literal and visual--abound in this fun adventure story with beloved characters and a solid pedagogical foundation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632893260
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	06/22/2021
Series:	Sir Cumference
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	38 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Cindy Neuschwander is an elementary school teacher who loves teaching math. She also enjoys traveling, reading, and writing stories. She thought up the Sir Cumference series while visiting medieval castles in England. Cindy lives in Pleasanton, California.

Read an Excerpt

“Oh, dear,” muttered Lady Di of Ameter as she rushed down the castle corridor.
            She ran headlong into her husband, Sir Cumference.
            “What’s the hurry?” he asked her.
            “The castle cook is in bed with the chills,” she answered, “and the Harvest Faire is just around the corner! We need to select the annual Harvest Sweet.”
            “We’ll need someone to do the baking, too,” said Sir Cumference.

Editorial Reviews

The latest in Neuschwander's medieval mathematical series explores bar graphs and pie charts. When the royal cook falls ill, Lady Di of Ameter and her husband, Sir Cumference, must not only judge the Harvest Faire sweet contest, but also find bakers to bake the confections. Luckily, their town boasts two bakers: Pia of Chartres and Bart Graf. But their desserts are so good the royal couple cannot choose one over the other. They instruct the pair to give away free samples of their top sellers and keep track of the townspeople's votes. After several (repetitive) attempts at keeping track of votes fail, each comes up with a recording system that works. Bart makes piles of cookie molds--one for each vote--while Pia places a different colored sweetmeat around the edges of a pie crust. In the end, the two present their findings--a bar graph and a pie chart showing a tie for first--to the rulers, along with a new dessert they concocted together, a clear winner. Geehan's acrylic illustrations play up the stereotypical medieval clothing and setting, both he and the author eschewing accuracy for the storyline. More contrived than other books addressing the same concept; still, the familiar characters may help readers take the lesson to heart. (Math picture book. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews