Sir Cumference and the First Round Table

Title: Sir Cumference and the First Round Table

Author: Cindy Neuschwander

Illustrator: Wayne Geehan

Grade Level: 3-6

NCTM Content Standard: Geometry

Summary: King Arthur has a problem. The long, rectangular table at which his knights meet is so long that he cannot hear what is being said at the other end. He turns to his knight, Sir Cumference, who, with the help of his wife, Lady Di of Ameter and the royal craftsman Geo of Metry, try out a series of differently shaped tables, in order to find one that works. Unfortunately, the parallelagram pokes the king in the stomach, the octagon causes fights (every knight wants his own side), and the oval leads to a big mess. It is only after being encouraged by his small son, Radius, that Sir Cumference thinks to propose a round table. This proves so successful that the king names each part of the circle in honor of the family, calling the length of the table a diameter, the outside edge a circumference, and the center to edge line a radius.

Uses: This book would serve as a very good introduction to various geometric shapes. As each shape is proposed, there is an illustrated discussion of how it is formed from the previous shape (an idea that can be played with, through the use of plastic tangrams, smaller shapes forming larger shapes). There is also a discussion of the unique features of each shape, accompanied by its name. When the circle is finally introduced at the end, the three primary features of it (diameter, radius, and circumference) are named after memorable characters in the book. Although the text does not delve into what can be done with these features of a circle, the introduction, accompanied by a specific character, will make it easier to tell each apart and avoid confusion. The ideal use for this book would be as a springboard into the larger world of geometry. It gets the vocabulary out of the way before bringing numbers into the picture.