The prequel to "The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat," this book is equal in entertainment and puzzling math problems and concepts. Much like my other review, The author uses humor, puzzles, mathematics principles, and anthropomorphized animals to communicate advanced math concepts.
Each section has a short story to go along with its corresponding math concept. This book is dedicated to teaching math to children on every level! This book covers somewhat challenging mathematical concepts, this text is literally a math book for all ages. I would assume gifted math students will find this compelling and will definitely broaden their horizons. It would be effortless to incorporate this book into a lesson plan. ( )

At first glance, the cover of fractals, googols, and other mathematical tales would not pique my interest. It looks boring. However, I picked this book based on my prior knowledge of fractals and its importance in nature.
Opening up the book, I see an illustration of a cat with a curious expression. Flipping to the back endpages, the same cat is now sleeping, satisfied with learning and solving the mysteries of math. The book is organized by content. The table of contents provide chapter titles as well as the mathematical concepts discussed in that title. The chapter titles are humorous with humorous and follows more of a storytelling element (Leonhard the Magic Turtle). The italics font indicating math concepts have more technical titles such as "the number line".
Theoni Pappas is an accomplished author and math teacher. The style she uses to demystify math is that of a story. She tells of the discoveries of Penrose the cat and along the way to learning mathematical concepts, he encounters other characters such as leonhard the turtle and doctor spacemath. Within the chapters, the math concepts are presented as sidebars at the end of the story. The sidebars take on a different tone than that of the main story. It is neutral. The language is technical as one would hear and see in a lecture.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Pappas uses light humor that makes reading about a dreaded subject fun. This book also has a biographical section on Penrose, the cat, written in the same light humor.
At the end of the book, a section is dedicated to Pappas' other books. I appreciate access to her other works, however the way the books are included makes it look like advertisements at the back of magazines. Some improvements I would like to see to this book: index, bibliography, and pronunciation guide (Descartes?), and. ( )

This engaging math activity book invites its readers in by framing mathematical experiments and activities within the frame of short stories. Throughout the book, the character Penrose the cat falls asleep atop his mistress's math materials, which transports him as he dreams to the different worlds of mathematics. This book is approachable enough for the interested middle schooler, but with enough challenging content to attract even adults who hold math as a hobby. Sidebars hold more detailed information about the history of the mathematics, or exploring the math in further depth, in addition to the content provided within the stories of the activities. An excellent find for a mathematics teacher and one that can easily be used as an interesting way to supplement lessons or for early finishers wishing to explore different math concepts ( )

A treasure trove of stories that make mathematical ideas come to life with an unusual cast of characters. Explores mathematical concepts and topics such as real numbers, exponents, dimensions, and geometry in both serious and funny ways.