Toads and Tessellations: A Math Adventure

In an inventive but somewhat pedantic story about math, Enzo—a wizard’s son—struggles to perform spells, which only result in messes. When Enzo’s father is away, the miserly castle housekeeper demands that a shoemaker, Tessel, make 12 pairs of shoes for as many dancing princesses—and all from a single piece of leather. When Enzo tries to lend his magic to stretch the leather, he inadvertently transforms Tessel into a toad, and later a goat. Eventually, Enzo learns that he can use the concept of tessellation (tiling) to design and construct the shoes without leaving any leftover scraps of fabric. Though readers may struggle to understand tessellation from the story itself, a closing section provides further detail. O’Neill creates a cheery medieval Italian village with her light watercolors. Ages 7–10. (July)