How Many Guinea Pigs Can Fit on a Plane? - (Bedtime Math) by Laura Overdeck (Paperback)

About the Book

Answers to unusual questions, using mathematics. First two questions, as examples: How many birds would it take to pick you up and fly with you?; and, How many bees does it take to make one jar of honey?

Book Synopsis

How many bees does it take to make one jar of honey?

How many soccer balls would fit inside a hollow Earth?

How many pieces of gum would it take to stick you to a wall--and keep you there?

Believe it or not, you can find out the answers to these questions yourself--using math! Combining questions from real readers like you with surprising answers, Laura Overdeck's How Many Guinea Pigs Can Fit on a Plane? proves that numbers can be fun--and that math is power.

Review Quotes

Proof that word problems can be fun. --School Library Journal

Bedtime Math:

"Overdeck debuts with a just-irreverent-enough book . . . . She shows that she knows her audience and loves her subject. Paillot (the My Weird School series) is a great choice for collaborator . . . he does it all with a good-hearted, goofy energy that should propel readers through the pages." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[This program] may have the potential to make bedtime math problems as loved as the bedtime story. . . . Hats off to Laura Overdeck. This project is a winner. A simple idea that may have as much of an impact on improving the science, technology, engineering and math interest in our children as many other well-funded programs." --Wired/GeekDad

"We all know we should read to our kids. But even if bedtime stories are routine in your house, when's the last time you gave your kids a bedtime math problem? Probably never. And that's one reason American students might struggle in a future that requires mathematical literacy." --USA Today

"Besides stopping the bad-mouthing of our own math skills and making sure that we're distributing our numbers-related conversations equally among our sons and daughters, what can a parent do to increase math awareness in our everyday lives? How about a bedtime math problem? . . . [in Bedtime Math]They're meant to be solved in their heads, and to promote both giggles and mathematical thought." --New York Times Motherlode Blog

"The U.S. ranks 25th out of 34 countries when it comes to kids' math proficiency. One New Jersey parent wants to change that by overhauling the culture of math. An astrophysics graduate and mother of three kids, she started a ritual when each child was 2 years old: a little bedtime mathematical problem-solving that soon became a beloved routine." --NPR

About the Author

Laura Overdeck is the author of Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse To Stay Up Late, Bedtime Math: This Time It's Personal, and Bedtime Math: The Truth Comes Out. Laura knows a thing or two about numbers. As a kid, she sat and memorized perfect squares for fun, before it was cool. And as a mom, she (along with her husband, John) decided to give their three children math problems alongside bedtime stories, and soon Bedtime Math was born. It has since grown into a nationwide movement to make math cool and to get kids fired up about numbers, sparking Bedtime Math's new after-school math club, Crazy 8s. Laura holds a BA in astrophysics from Princeton University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. When not playing with numbers, Laura pursues her other interests, which include chocolate, wine, extreme gravity stunts, and LEGO Mindstorms.