BURNS, Marilyn 1941-

PERSONAL: Born 1941. Education: Attended Syracuse University. Hobbies and other interests: Playing piano.

ADDRESSES: Home—Sausalito, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Scholastic Inc., 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

CAREER: Marilyn Burns Associates, Sausalito, CA, principal and creator of Math Solutions training program for teachers and administrators. Developer of videotapes for mathematics instruction; workshop presenter; also worked as a classroom teacher of mathematics to elementary and middle school students, beginning in Syracuse, NY; volunteer teacher in Mill Valley, CA.

AWARDS, HONORS: Cited in "outstanding science books for children," National Science Teachers Association and Children's Book Council, 1975, for The I Hate Mathematics! Book; Louise Hay Award for Contributions to Mathematics Education, Association for Women in Mathematics, 1997.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION; FOR CHILDREN

The Hanukkah Book, illustrated by Mary Weston, Four Winds Press (New York, NY), 1981.

The Hink Pink Book: or, What Do You Call a Magician's Extra Bunny?, illustrated by Mary Weston, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1981.

The $1.00 Word Riddle Book, illustrated by Mary Weston, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 1990.

How Many Feet? How Many Tails? A Book of Math Riddles, illustrated by Lynn Adams, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1996.

NONFICTION; "BROWN PAPER SCHOOL" SERIES

The I Hate Mathematics! Book, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1975.

The Book of Think: or, How to Solve a Problem Twice Your Size, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1976.

I Am Not a Short Adult! Getting Good at Being a Kid, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1977.

Good for Me! All about Food in 32 Bites, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1978.

This Book Is about Time, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1978.

Math for Smarty Pants: or, Who Says Mathematicians Have Little Pig Eyes, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1982.

The I Hate Mathematics! Book has been translated into German, Hebrew, and Japanese.

FICTION; FOR CHILDREN

The Greedy Triangle, illustrated by Gordon Silveria, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1994.

Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! A Mathematical Story, illustrated by Debbie Tilley, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1997.

NONFICTION; FOR ADULTS

A Collection of Math Lessons: Grades 3-6, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 1987.

(With Bonnie Tank) A Collection of Math Lessons: Grades 1-3, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 1988.

(With Cathy Humphreys) A Collection of Math Lessons: Grades 6-8, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 1990.

Math by All Means: Multiplication, Grade 3, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 1991.

About Teaching Mathematics: A K-8 Resource, Marilyn Burns Education Associates (Sausalito, CA), 1992, 2nd edition, 2000.

Math and Literature: K-3, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 1992.

Writing in Math Class: A Resource for Grades 2-8, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 1995.

Fifty Problem-Solving Lessons, Addison Wesley Publishing (Reading, MA), 1995.

Math: Facing an American Phobia, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 1998.

(Editor) Leading the Way: Principals and Superintendents Look at Math Instruction, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 1999.

(With Robin Silbey) So You Have to Teach Math: Sound Advice for K-6 Teachers, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2000.

Lessons for Introducing Fractions: Grades 4-5, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2001.

Lessons for Introducing Multiplication: Grade 3, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2001.

(With Maryann Wickett) Lessons for Extending Multiplication: Grades 4-5, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2001.

(With Maryann Wickett and Susan Ohanian) Lessons for Introducing Division: Grades 3-4, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2002.

(With Carrie DeFrancisco) Teaching Arithmetic: Lessons for Decimals and Percents, Grades 5-6, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2002.

(With Maryann Wickett) Lessons for Introducing Place Value: Grade 2, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2002.

(With Leyani von Rotz) Lessons for Algebraic Thinking: Grades K-2, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2002.

(With Katherine Kharas and Maryann Wickett) Lessons for Algebraic Thinking: Grades 3-5, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2002.

(With Carrie De Francisco) Lessons for Decimals and Percents: Grades 5-6, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2002.
(With Stephanie Sheffield) Lessons for Extending Fractions: Grade 5, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2003.

Lessons for Multiplying and Dividing Fractions: Grades 5-6, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2003.

(With Maryann Wickett) Lessons for Extending Division, Math Solutions Publications (Sausalito, CA), 2003.

AUTHOR OF MATHEMATICS ACTIVITIES

No Fair!, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1997.

The 512 Ants on Sullivan Street, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1997.

Four Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1997.

Monster Math School Time, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1997.

More for Me, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1997.

The Case of the Missing Birthday Party, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1997.

Grace Maccarone, Monster Math Picnic, illustrated by Marge Hartelius, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1998.

Grace Maccarone, Monster Money, illustrated by Marge Hartelius, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1998.

Cindy Neuschwander, Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream: A Mathematical Story, illustrated by Liza Woodruff, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1998.

Dianne Ochiltree, Cats Add Up!, illustrated by Marcy Dunn-Ramsey, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1998.

Joanne Rocklin, The Case of the Backyard Treasure, illustrated by John Speirs, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1998.

Joanne Rocklin, The Case of the Shrunken Allowance, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1998.

Joanne Rocklin, Not Enough Room!, illustrated by Cristina Ong, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1998.

Judith Bauer Stamper, Tic-Tac-Toe: Three in a Row, illustrated by Ken Wilson-Max, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1998.

Dianne Ochiltree, Bart's Amazing Charts, illustrated by Martin Lemelman, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1999.

Teddy Slater, —98, 99, 100, Ready or Not, Here I Come!, illustrated by Gioia Fiammenghi, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1999.

Joanne Rocklin, The Incredibly Awesome Box: A Story about 3-D Shapes, illustrated by Cary Pillo, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 2000.

Sheila Keenan, What's Up with That Cup?, illustrated by Jackie Snider, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 2000.

Andrea Buckless, Too Many Cooks!, illustrated by K. A. Jacobs, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 2000.

Sheila Keenan, Lizzy's Dizzy Day, illustrated by Jackie Snider, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 2001.

Sheila Keenan, The Trouble with Pets, illustrated by Laura Coyle, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 2001.

Cindy Neuschwander, 88 Pounds of Tomatoes, illustrated by Terry Sirrell, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 2001.

Count Me In!, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 2001.

Grace Maccarone, It Was Halloween Night: A Scary Math Story—with Tangrams!, illustrated by Matthew Straub, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 2001.

Carol A. Losi, Pizza Pizzazz!, illustrated by Jackie Snider, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 2002.

Teddy Slater, Two Tickets to Ride, illustrated by Veronica Rooney, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Author and math teacher Marilyn Burns is noted for her many books that instill an interest and enthusiasm for the world of numbers into her school-age readers. In addition to such works as The I Hate Mathematics! Book, which was published as part of the "Brown Paper School" series, and The Greedy Triangle, Burns has also produced a number of teaching guides for math instructors in the elementary grades, all based on the concept of teaching math as a subject that is part of students' daily lives rather than an abstract concept.

The I Hate Mathematics! Book, with section titles that include "Infinity Is Not in Vermont" and "Fathead," has a direct appeal to the non-math student. A humorously illustrated selection of riddles, brain teasers, and other puzzles involving number calculations based on real-life examples are included in a mix that Horn Book reviewer Mary M. Burns dubbed "educationally sound and exciting."

From mathematics fun, the "Brown Paper School" series extends to other concerns of the elementary-age set. In I Am Not a Short Adult! Getting Good at Being a Kid, youngsters can learn through statistics, questions, and other relevant information that they are a lot like other kids. Burns also provides her young readers with an understanding of the history of "childhood," as well as an overview of the legal aspects of being underage. Straightforward experiments and tests readers can give themselves provide young readers with "some new insights into why the world is the way it is," stated Ann A. Flowers in a Horn Book review. This Book Is about Time, includes activities like how to make a sundial as it discusses clocks, timepieces, and the way humans have marked the passage of time throughout history. And in Good for Me! All about Food in 32 Bites, Burns uses interesting facts, quizzes, cartoon dialogue, and hands-on projects to present a guide to nutrition that highlights how foods are made and how they fuel the body. A Booklist reviewer praised Good for Me! as an "upbeat, informative book."

The Greedy Triangle, a work of math-related fiction, is an enthusiastic, playful look at the world of geometric shapes for young students. Through the antics of the title character, a spunky triangle with beady black eyes and a mischievous grin, the book shows how the world is full of geometry. The Greedy Triangle has many jobs in the book, such as "holding up roofs, supporting bridges, making music in a symphony orchestra, catching the wind for sailboats." After turning itself into a slice of pie, or resting in the crook of the elbow of someone standing with their hands on their hips, the Greedy Triangle, true to its name, decides to become a "shape shifter" and grow a few more angles. It becomes a quadrilateral and shadows a television screen and a book page; from there, it continues to sprout more angles, changing into a pentagon, then a hexagon, a septagon, and so on. Soon it has so many angles that it has become almost round, and the Greedy Triangle decides that being a triangle was work enough and returns to its original three-sided, three-angled form.

While Susan Dove Lempke, a reviewer in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, maintained that the triangle's changing shapes "surely will make children wonder what happened to all of the things that were triangle-shaped after the triangle became a quadrilateral," a Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that readers "come away from [The Greedy Triangle] noticing and naming the shapes of the objects around them."

In addition to her mathematics-based books, Burns has also written a history of Hanukkah, which is designed to teach Jewish children about their own history and become more comfortable dealing with questions that highlight their cultural differences. Beginning with a short history of the holiday starting during the reign of Alexander the Great of Macedonia, The Hanukkah Book then focuses on the ways that the holiday is now celebrated around the world. Recipes for holiday foods, including potato latkes, are included alongside descriptions of holiday prayers, games, songs, crafts, and other traditional activities. Of special interest is the final section of the book, where Burns focuses on the feelings of not "fitting in" that Jewish children sometimes experience when facing the inevitable question, "What did you get for Christmas?" In a review of the volume in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Zena Sutherland noted that while The Hanukkah Book "is capably organized," it may attempt to cover too much information. School Library Journal critic Jean Hammond Zimmerman was more enthusiastic about the book, declaring, "If you can only buy one Hanukkah book, this should be it."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Burns, Marilyn, The Greedy Triangle, Scholastic Inc. (New York, NY), 1994.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 1975, p. 297; November 15, 1978, review of Good for Me! All about Food in 32 Bites, pp. 542-543.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, December, 1981, Zena Sutherland, review of The Hanukkah Book, pp. 64-65; March, 1995, Susan Dove Lempke, review of The Greedy Triangle, p. 230.

Children's Bookwatch, March, 1998, review of Spaghetti and Meatballs for All!, p. 7.

Horn Book, April, 1976, Mary M. Burns, review of The I Hate Mathematics! Book, p. 177; April, 1978, Ann A. Flowers, review of I Am Not a Short Adult: Getting Good at Being a Kid, p. 175; February, 1979, p. 76.

Horn Book Guide, spring, 1998, review of Spaghetti and Meatballs for All!, p. 25.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 1977, p. 1099; January 1, 1979, p. 8; October 15, 1981, p. 1297.

Library Journal, May 15, 1998, Amy Brunvand, review of Math: Facing an American Phobia, p. 107.

Publishers Weekly, January 2, 1995, review of The Greedy Triangle, p. 77; February 23, 1998, review of Math.

School Library Journal, February, 1979, p. 53; October, 1981, Jean Hammond Zimmerman, review of The Hanukkah Book, p. 157.

Teaching Children Mathematics, March, 1999, review of Math, p. 446; May, 2001, Mary Lou Damjanovich, review of About Teaching Mathematics: A K-8 Resource, p. 550; October, 2001, Kari Augustine, review of So You Have to Teach Math: Sound Advice for K-6 Teachers, p. 124; May, 2002, Kathy Iwanicki, review of Lessons for Introducing Multiplication: Grade 3, Lessons for Extending Multiplication: Grades 4-5, and Lessons for Introducing Fractions: Grades 4-5, p. 553.

ONLINE

Introduction to Marilyn Burns,http://www.eiu.edu/~wow.mbmain.html (May 11, 2004).

Math Solutions Online,http://www.mathsolutions.com/ (May 11, 2004).*