Malcolm E. Weiss

Whattttttt!!! the first page had me lost for words. I love tricks so to have a math trick in a book I was very excited. Then I got to the page where they added a pictures to the equation. I was so confused for about 10 minutes. I sat at the desk trying to figure out how to physically represent what the trick was doing. then I got so desperate to figure it out that I tore up small pieces of paper and literally followed step by step what the trick was doing. I was having problems with this process for reason I can't even explain. I had to do the trick twice putting pieces of paper in the bag in place of jelly beans. But as I went through the entire process I appreciated the work I had to put in to understand what was happening. My hopes from this book is that if I ever teach a math class I inspires students to never give up in finding out the how and why of problems. I would love to have actual jelly beans or candy so that students could do the activities and have a little snack too. This was a very interesting book to read.… (meer)

Even though this book was published in 1976 and the illustrations are not the most appealing I found that this was a very good book. This book breaks down the different concepts of algebra such as equations. I really like how this book includes pictures for each of the examples of math problems. This is good to help students see how the problems are being worked out. I find that students could also work the problems in the book as they read to gain more knowledge on the concepts of algebra. I felt that the very beginning of the book really grabbed your attention with trying to solve a riddle. This left me wanting to know what the rest of the book held!… (meer)

There is good introductory information about Algebra and uses simple means to help kids relate to solving problems. The book does allow kids to think and understand simple Algebraic concepts.
My biggest concern is the title because I am afraid many parents wouldn't give the book a chance based solely on the title. The number 666 had a very negative connotation in the Christian religion. While the title is catchy because it will make people think about what type of information is in the book, I think it will turn away a large group of people.… (meer)