SEEING SYMMETRY

An entertaining assortment of dozens of diverse and colorful examples from quilts to kites to cupcakes invites the reader to discover both line and rotational symmetry.

The cleverly designed cover and title page provide an example of “flip” or mirror symmetry right off the mark. The book moves on to a clear and simple explanation of the line of symmetry—an image of a folded-paper sea turtle is followed by an image of a real sea turtle—and provides many examples, including individual letters and even words that exhibit symmetry. Leedy moves on to a discussion of rotational symmetry, with various spinning designs. Throughout, the approach is clear, direct, simple and encouraging. One double-page spread of holiday symbols and decorations seems unnecessarily narrow and a bit commercialized, but overall, the layout, diagrams, font sizes and use of color set this overall above a mere textbook treatment. The backmatter reinforces the lesson with the following: two pages of notes provide extensive discussions of the specific forms of symmetry in the main text, and there are two activities (folded shape cutting and a folded paint-blot design), a brief glossary (“Symmetry Words”) repeating the vocabulary and concepts introduced in the text and a one-page discussion of the importance of symmetry in math.

Useful and accessible.