A Very Improbable Story by Edward Einhorn

Reader's Response: I have always loved children's literature, and I thought this story was masterfully written. It balanced the fictional element of a talking cat with the nonfictional element of learning probability. Although I was learning, I was interested in and excited about what would happen on the next page. (So, it was sort of like I wasn't learning, which, for some readers, is key!) As a plus, the illustrations were fun and captured the attitudes' of the characters in the story. Overall I really enjoyed the book, and it left me wanting to learn more about my favorite character, Odds the Cat!

Evaluator's Response: One of the things I appreciated most about the book was that it ended by giving a real world example of how probability was helpful to Ethan, the little boy in the story. It showed how he applied his newly learned skills to something that could help him in the immediate future. As we have learned at Lipscomb, teachers spend a lot of time talking about how skills will benefit students in the future, but some students need to know how it will benefit them now. Although this is a lighthearted example of that, it can help students start building those connections. For this reason, I think this is the book's biggest strength. One weakness that I saw in the book is that it did not broaden social, historical, geographical, or cultural diversity understanding; it simply was a fun story to explain a mathematical concept.

Teacher's Response: If a student liked this book, I would recommend "Anno's Three Little Pigs." This book is a take on the traditional story of "The Three Little Pigs," but Socrates, the wolf in the story, uses combinations and permutations to try to locate which of the five houses the three piggies could be hiding. This story is similar to "A Very Improbable Story" because it has talking animals, an engaging plot line, and helps describe math. Spoiler alert: no pigs were harmed in the writing of this book!

Literacy Coach's Response: As a literacy coach, I would encourage teachers to actively engage students in a read a loud that involves them predicting the mathematical outcomes presented in the book, as well as if the cat will get off Ethan's head when he does certain things, such as take a shower or go downstairs for breakfast. (That cat says he will only get off if the boy wins a probability game!) After the reading, I would do an enrichment activity in which students play the same games that are presented in the book and calculate their probability of winning, just like Ethan did. I would then have them write sentences about why they came to their conclusions. 

Ideas for lesson plans and reading extension ideas can be found here and here.