"I recommend MathStart books to teachers and parents as powerful and fun vehicles to lifelong skills."
— Catherine Kuhns, teacher, Florida


Betcha! (Estimating)
"Murphy's success is in beveling the sharp, unforgiving reputation of math and in showing how numbers can be toyed with. Readers may come away with the sense that they are not slaves to numbers—it's the other way around."
— Kirkus Reviews
 

Missing Mittens (Odd and Even Numbers)
"This story will amuse young readers as well as teach them."
— Children's Literature (childrenslit.com)


"I like how he drew pictures along with the math problems in Too Many Kangaroo Things to Do. I think he is the best author in the world!"
— Brittany, Grade 3


Earth Day – Hooray! (Place Value)
"A level 3 in the much-beloved-by-teachers MathStart series, Murphy's latest focus is on place value...Excellent activity suggestions follow the text, allowing parents and children to spend time together while learning. A marvelous addition to the series...and to any primary teacher's bookshelf."
— Kirkus Reviews


Pepper’s Journal (Calendars)
"In an entertaining format, readers observe Pepper's growth over the next year and learn all the important details of cat care and cat behavior. The concept of time is fully integrated into the story.... A unique complement to most collections."
— School Library Journal


Less Than Zero (Negative Numbers)
WINNER OPPENHEIM TOY PORTFOLIO GOLD SEAL AWARD
BEST BOOK OF 2004 - Science Books & Films magazine (American Association for the Advancement of Science)

 
Tally O’Malley (Tallying)
"From the enormously popular and valuable series, "MathStart," this title introduces the concept of making and bundling tally marks to count items, and secondarily, learning to count by fives."
–  Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (childrenslit.com)


"I have convinced our librarian that when Stuart’s books come out, she automatically buys them for our school library collection. I promote his work a lot among my colleagues because he has an easy way to present a lot of concepts — difficult concepts — for little kids. They’re easy and the kids enjoy them and they like drawing and they like writing, and they just enjoy doing it. His work is wonderful."
— Stephanie Eagleton, Boulevard School, Shaker Heights, OH, Grade 2


Bigger, Better, Best! (Area)
"The MathStart title entwines the basic geometry concept of area with an engaging family story of sibling rivalry...Parents and teachers will be relieved that these argumentative kids are fictional, but they are an excellent vehicle for practical math concepts."
— Kirkus Reviews


Captain Invincible and the Space Shapes (Three-Dimensional Shapes)
"An excellent tool for introducing a unit on three-dimensional shapes...The bold cartoon art in deep, bright colors draws readers intothis fun and exciting story that is a vehicle for learning to recognize and define geometric shapes."
— School Library Journal


"They're the kind of books that grip kids. They enjoy reading them. It's important to use math in an everyday sense so kids just feel it all around them, and it's just natural - and that math is not a scary thing."
— Nita Walker, teacher, Pio Pico Elementary School, California


Henry the Fourth (Ordinals)
"In this entry in the MathStart series, Murphy uses an engaging tale about an amateur dog show to present the concept of ordinal numbers and how they are an integral part of daily life....The combination of written and visual reinforcement effectively provides a firm foundation of understanding for beginning readers."
— Kirkus Reviews


Your books send an anti-math-phobic message. It's what I work on all year. I want my students to love math as much as I do. The children in my class love your books!
— Heidi Cross, teacher, Medway, Massachusetts


Get Up and Go! (Time Lines)
"Three ideas are woven into the story line: time, counting, and addition, shown by the use of the number line and adjoining line segments....Highly recommended."
- Science Books & Films (American Association for the Advancement of Science)


Sluggers Car Wash (Dollars and Cents)
WINNER BANK STREET COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AWARD


The Sundae Scoop (Combinations)
"More math that kids—and not a few adults—can relate to, from the master of math concepts. Here he tackles combinations via a story of kids making sundaes at a school picnic...The chill that the words "combinational analysis" send through the bones is chased away by the clarity of Murphy's diagramming, flow charts that show just how many different sundaes might be ordered....Be prepared to head to the freezer."
— Kirkus Reviews


Coyotes All Around (Rounding)
"I like the way mathematics is tied into everyday activities and science in one readable, enjoyable, and affordable book."
— Teaching Children Mathematics (NCTM)


A Pair of Socks (Matching)
"Perhaps the only picture-book story told from the point of view of a sock, this details the search for the other half of the pair....Short, snappy rhymes and Ehlert's brilliantly colored collage illustrations combine to make this tale from the MathStart seriesan entertaining book."
— Booklist


Dave’s Down-to-Earth Rock Shop (Classifying)
"Murphy turns his considerable talents to the concept of classification in this MathStart title....Murphy's forte is explaining complex topics in a down-to-earth manner, and that's just what he's done here. Along the way, he also includes a good deal of information about rocks, minerals, and the scientific method....A good introduction to primary geology units or lessons on classification."
— Booklist


"His books are not fluff. They're a story. They're math. They're definitely Visual Learning. They're packed full."
— Judy Fraps, teacher, Indiana