Tag: infinity

Caramel reviews The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity by Amy Alznauer

This week Caramel is talking about The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, written by Amy Alznauer and illustrated by Daniel Miyares, the beautifully told and magically illustrated story of the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Caramel reviews The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, written by Amy Alznauer and illustrated by Daniel Miyares.
Caramel reviews The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, written by Amy Alznauer and illustrated by Daniel Miyares.

Sprinkles: So Caramel tell us about this book.

Caramel: You say that all the time!

S: I know, right? I do that because I think that is a good way to get you to start talking about the book. So?

C: Hmm, let me think a bit. This book is about a boy who went to school but his math is far more advanced than his classmates’.

S: So what does he do with that math?

C: He keeps on writing in a notebook, doing more and more math. And then he gets another notebook and writes in it.

S: So he is doing math almost compulsively. He seems like he cannot stop himself, right? He is driven to do math.

C: Yes. He sees numbers everywhere and then he opens up, divides, or cracks up the numbers to find more numbers in them.

S: Right! I liked the way the author put it (and this is also in the back cover of the book):

If Ramanujan could crack the number 1 open and find infinity, what secrets would he discover inside other numbers?

Caramel is reading The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, written by Amy Alznauer and illustrated by Daniel Miyares. These pages are about when Ramanujan as a little boy was not yet speaking. Instead, he "just lined up the copper pots across the floor. And when he didn't get his curd rice and mango, he rolled in the monsoon mud."
Caramel is reading The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, written by Amy Alznauer and illustrated by Daniel Miyares. These pages are about when Ramanujan as a little boy was not yet speaking. Instead, he “just lined up the copper pots across the floor. And when he didn’t get his curd rice and mango, he rolled in the monsoon mud.”

C: So why did he do math? Because he had to.

S: What do you mean? Is someone forcing him to do math?

C: No he wants to do it. And he cannot stop doing it. It’s almost compulsive.

S: That’s a big word for a little bunny Caramel!

C: I know. I do read a lot.

S: So the title of this book is The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity. This reminds me of the book with a similar title: The Man Who Knew Infinity, by Robert Kanigel. That book is also about Ramanujan, but it is not a beautifully illustrated book for kids like this one. And that book tells us about Ramanujan’s whole life while this one is more about him as a little boy when he was dreaming math and finding it all around him.

C: Oh that is interesting. I think I remember us watching a movie with that name.

S: You have a good memory!

C: Can we put in the trailer here?

S: Sure. Here we go.

S: So tell me more about this book. Do you like the pictures?

C: Yep. They are very detailed, and they are like they are from a dream. There are two pages where the boy is dancing around and jumping over numbers.

Caramel is reading The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, written by Amy Alznauer and illustrated by Daniel Miyares. These pages are about the nights when "while he slept, numbers came whispering in dreams."
Caramel is reading The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, written by Amy Alznauer and illustrated by Daniel Miyares. These pages are about the nights when “while he slept, numbers came whispering in dreams.”

S: Yes, that page especially but the rest of the pictures are also dreamlike. The colors and the combination of images… But back to that page where Ramanujan is jumping around numbers: Can you imagine yourself jumping and flipping around numbers?

C: Of course! I like jumping! I’m a bunny!

S: That is true! Here is my last question: What does this book make you think about math?

C: Multiplication and division and addition, and numbers, and infinity.

S: Does it make you like them? Do you feel like you could enjoy playing around with numbers?

C: Yes, I already do! I like math!

S: That is great! Ok, this is a good time to wrap things up.

C: I want to rate this!

S: Ok. Give me three words that describe this book.

C: Detailed, mathematics, beautiful.

S: These are good descriptors for the book. I agree. I’d add “dream, infinity, imagination”. So what do we say to end this review?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunnies adventures!

Caramel enjoyed reading The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, written by Amy Alznauer and illustrated by Daniel Miyares, and recommends it to all little bunnies.
Caramel enjoyed reading The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity, written by Amy Alznauer and illustrated by Daniel Miyares, and recommends it to all little bunnies.

Caramel reviews Life on the Infinite Farm by Richard Evan Schwartz

Caramel has been reading a very colorful math book recently. Below he talks about what he thinks about this book, Life on the Infinite Farm by Richard Evan Schwartz. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Caramel reviews Life on the Infinite Farm by Richard Evan Schwartz.
Caramel reviews Life on the Infinite Farm by Richard Evan Schwartz.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, what is this book about?

Caramel: It’s about infinite stuff. There are infinite animals.

S: Do you mean to say there are infinitely many animals?

C: No. I mean there are animals with infinitely many things, like infinitely many feet. There is a cow with infinitely many feet, and she loves shoes! There’s also an infinite sheep, and an infinite donkey, and an infinite gopher. Oh and there’s an infinite shark named Nelson. Guess what he can do?

S: Hmm, I don’t know. What can Nelson do?

C: He has infinitely many teeth. And wait, I’ll find it.

“Nelson is a shark whose head extends in both directions. [His] head can swing open like a door in some places.”

Isn’t it kind of creepy Sprinkles?

Caramel is pointing toward Nelson's scary (and infinite) teeth.
Caramel is pointing toward Nelson’s scary (and infinite) teeth.

S: Hmm, yes, kind of. But it also looks like he’s smiling, friendly like. No?

C: I’m not so sure. Anyway in this farm chickens have teeth too!

S: Interesting! So what else happens in this farm?

C: There is a pond and a crater and these are infinite from the inside but look finite from the outside. They are “enclosed infinite spaces”. Whatever that means.

S: It is kind of confusing, isn’t it?

C: Very!

S: Yes infinity is a confusing concept. But it is also a fascinating one. There are so many strange things happening in this farm, right? Don’t you find them fascinating?

C: Yes. I keep finding new parts of the book to read.

S: Yes, this is not a short book. And it is not quite a book to be read in one sitting, is it?

C: No, not always.

S: How do you read it then?

C: I pick it up every now and then, and read a few pages. I find new and strange things every time. But once in a while I do read the whole book. And then I read it again some other time.

S: So you have read the whole book?

C: Yep.

S: So how does it end? What happens in the end?

C: In the end the book answers the question:

“Can we VISIT the infinite farm?”

S: So can we? Can we visit it?

C: Anybody can. But they have to read the book to visit it. The farm is the book.

S: And you might find more of it in other geometry books, perhaps?

C: Yes!

S: Would you like to live in the infinite farm?

C: Nope.

S: Why not?

C: Because I’m fine being finite.

S: But are you really finite Caramel? You have a big imagination, don’t you?

C: Yes, my imagination goes on forever.

S: That’s some kind of infinity too, no?

C: Yep I suppose so.

S: Do you think this is a good place to end our review?

C: Yes! Let me say my last words as usual: Stay tuned for more reviews from the Book Bunnies!

Caramel enjoys reading and rereading bits and pieces of Life on the Infinite Farm by Richard Evan Schwartz.
Caramel enjoys reading and rereading bits and pieces of Life on the Infinite Farm by Richard Evan Schwartz.