Fibonacci Zoo by Tom Robinson, Christina Wald

Paperback: 9781628555622, $9.95

About the book: When Eli and his father visit an unusual zoo, they count the creatures in each exhibit. Eli sees one alligator, then one bison, and next two camels. Soon a number pattern emerges and Eli thinks he can predict how many animals will be in the next exhibit. Explore the zoo with Eli as he runs ahead to test his hypothesis.

My thoughts: Arbordale Publishing has again combined education with entertainment. Author Tom Robinson has taken the mathematical concept of fibonacci sequencing and applied it simplistically in a story where a young boy and his father visit a zoo. As they visit the various animal displays, Eli (the boy) notices that there is a pattern. Each display's number of animals increases and that increase is predictable by adding the number of the previous two displays.  He has basically discovered the concept of fibonacci sequencing.

We've all seen the beauty of spirals in nature and mathematicians have discovered that this is actually the same as fibonacci sequencing. Personally, not being mathematically inclined, understanding this concept is a bit beyond me but I do follow what Eli has discovered.

The illustrator, Christina Wald, has used the imagery of circles (whether this was done intentionally or not) which allows the reader's mind subconsciously to entertain the theory of the fibonacci sequence spiral. Written for the grade K-3 child, the concept might not be easily grasped in this age group even though the story and presentation is simple.

Using the concept of entertaining stories to bring out a mathematical concept is a growing trend in educational fiction. In this, as with other Arbordale Publishing books, there are several pages in the back of the book that present material and activities for the creative mind. This can be well-used by the adult to lead the child into understanding the concepts brought out in the story.

Here are a couple of links about Fibonacci numbers. Wikipedia Fibonacci Number and also KahnAcademy

DISCLOSURE: I was provided a complimentary copy by Arbordale Publishing to facilitate this review. Opinions expressed are solely my own. I was not compensated for this review.