A VERY IMPROBABLE STORY
by Edward Einhorn & illustrated by Adam Gustavson
The latest of the Charlesbridge Math Adventures tackles the idea of probability. Ethan awakens one morning to find an unfamiliar cat named Odds on his head. Odds refuses to get off until Ethan wins a probability game. But that’s not as easy as it sounds. Ethan fails to choose a dime from his bank, or to find two matching socks from his drawer of ten pairs. It is when his sister brings out the marbles that the true teaching moment begins. Ethan lays out color pairs to determine what the odds are of pulling out two white marbles from a bag of 100 of four equal colors. It isn’t until breakfast that Ethan finally wins. By then, he has taken the lesson to heart and realizes that probability could help him win his upcoming soccer game. Gustavson’s oil paintings highlight the improbability of Ethan’s situation—his attempts to remove Odds, and failing that, to conceal him, will have readers in stitches. Each of Ethan and Odds facial expressions speaks volumes. Aside from its rather sluggish start, this is solid math that also teaches children about its applicability in the wider world. (Picture book. 7-10)