Tiger Math: Learning to Graph from a Baby Tiger

by Ann Whitehead Nagda, Cindy Bickel

Overview

Children learn to graph as they follow the growth of an orphaned Siberian tiger cub.

A Siberian tiger cub born at the Denver Zoo is orphaned when he is just a few weeks old. At first T. J. refuses to eat his new food, and it requires the full attention of the zoo staff to ensure that he grows into a huge, beautiful, and very healthy tiger.

Through photographs, narrative, and graphs, young readers follow T.J. as he grows from a tiny newborn into a five-hundred-pound adult. A heartwarming story about one tiger's fight for survival that also introduces a basic math skill.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805071610
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	09/01/2002
Series:	Animal Math Series
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.98(w) x 10.07(h) x 0.10(d)
Lexile:	810L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Ann Whitehead Nagda is the author of math picture books about baby zoo animals, including Panda Math and Cheetah Math, as well as several other books about wildlife. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Cindy Bickel has worked at the Denver Zoo for more than thirty years, where she has helped raise many baby animals, including the polar bears Klondike and Snow. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Editorial Reviews

A delightful way to learn math.” —Kirkus Reviews

“An innovative approach to teaching math.” —School Library Journal

“Nagda has paved an inviting path to the skill of graph interpretation, and T.J.'s story will beckon even the math-reluctant to follow.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

Gr 1-4-T.J., a Siberian tiger cub born at the Denver Zoo, is orphaned when he is only a few weeks old. The veterinary staff raises him, feeding him by hand until he is able to eat on his own and be returned to the tiger exhibit. The story is accompanied by graphs on facing pages that chart T.J.'s growth, successfully showing math in "real world" terms. The first charts show how few Siberian tigers remain in the wild and in captivity, helping to establish the importance of saving this one. The doctors need to know how much the young animal eats and how much weight he gains in order to make sure he is healthy. Easy-to-understand picture, pie or circle, bar, or line graphs, all with explanations, appear on the left; facing pages of text and clear full-color photographs are on the right. The photos and story portray T.J. as cuddly and friendly, playing hide-and-seek with his human keepers and pouncing on them for fun. However, since few children will have the opportunity to interact with a tiger cub, the safety concern is minimal. Overall, an innovative approach to teaching math.-Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

A true story of a baby tiger's brush with death from starvation is an opportunity for learning about graphs. T.J., a Siberian Tiger born at the Denver Zoo, stopped eating after the sudden death of his mother. The staff tried offering all sorts of tempting food to whet his appetite, but he refused everything. After five days, they had no choice but to force-feed him by putting food at the back of his tongue and using a stick to push the meat in. After 11 days, the cub began to eat and now is larger than his father. T.J.'s story is written on the right-hand pages of the book and the graphs and their explanations are on the left. The reader can read the complete story without referring to the left-hand pages that contain the graphs and the additional text that explains them. Different kinds of graphs track a variety of data. A bar graph measures how much meat T.J. ate each day. A line graph shows T.J.'s weight loss. A picture graph compares tigers in the wild, and a circle graph shows the same information in another form. Interesting photographs taken at the Denver Zoo detail every aspect of the story. They show T.J. as a three-pound cub with his mother. When he needs hospitalization, they show how he is force-fed. As he recovers, photos show him playing with zoo staff, and finally as an adult sitting in his pool at ZooMontana. A delightful way to learn math. (Nonfiction. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews