M. W. Penn

My first picture book, Sidney the Silly Who Only Eats 6, was published by Gumboot Books of Vancouver and was awarded best children’s book of 2007 by the Connecticut Press Club. The tale of an impish young king who eats 6 of anything, never more or less, blends math concepts into the storyline. The book will be accompanied by an interdisciplinary activity book and a teacher’s guide. Filthy Franny and The 4 Faery Fleas, a jolly journey through the digits, will be published by Gumboot in the fall of 2008; it is in illustration. Gumboots is also planning to publish Jolly John Stotes Who Plays Just 3 Notes, a tale combining poetry, music and permutation. My math poetry has appeared in Highlights for Children and two anthologies.

Dr. Edward Zigler, founder of the Zigler Institute of Child Development at Yale University and the ‘father’ of the Head Start program, has said of my work, “Penn’s creative use of rhyme and number is a model of how to help the young child begin the demanding tasks of mastering literacy and numeracy.” Maria Diamantis, Ph. D., Chairperson, Department of Education, Southern Connecticut State University and President of the Associated Teachers of Mathematics New England also praised Sidney: “The integration of story and mathematics is awesome, captivating; it invites the reader to explore problem solving and number sense!”

I visit elementary schools (grades K-4) and libraries to read poetry and stories and introduce children to some of the seminal ideas of mathematics, e.g. symmetry, pattern, number and problem solving. I have endorsements from school districts, district math specialists, librarians and teachers. Also, I have presented a session at the Associated Teachers of Mathematics in Connecticut (ATOMIC) conference in 2007 and visit mathematics methods and writing classes at universities.