The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by LeUyen Pham (Roaring Brook Press, 2013)

As a young boy, he hated school and rules, couldn’t sit still, and turned everything in the world around him into a math game. Known as the Magician from Budapest by the age of twenty because of his extraordinary math skills, Paul Erdos was a man whose passion and generosity made him beloved of mathematicians around the world. This lively account of the life of one of the world’s foremost mathematicians (to say nothing of characters) brings the sometimes remote, staid, black&white world of math to colorful life with enough verve and vigor to make math a fun subject for the youngest readers. ReaderKidZ spoke with author Deborah Heiligman about her own life’s journey that made this subject so important to her.

ReaderKidZ: You say that THE BOY WHO LOVED MATH was inspired by your two sons, who were excited upon learning about the lives of famous mathematicians. Also, that you had enjoyed math until the day came when you thought it was “for other people.” Are you referring to the glass ceiling idea that women are not as capable in the field of mathematics as men? Are there any famous female mathematicians?

DH: There are definitely female mathematicians. I’m sure not as many as males, though. One of Paul’s best friends was Ver Sos, who is still a working mathematician. She lives in Hungary. I do think, though, that when I was growing up girls were not particularly encouraged to pursue math. I doubt I would have been a mathematician considering how confusing I found calculus, but maybe with the right encouragement… you never know. I hope girls today are being encouraged, but I kind of think they are not. I wonder what your readers think.

ReaderKidZ: You portray Paul Erdos as a small boy who had a hard time sitting still and following rules. This continued after he went to school, so his mother allowed him to stay at home, a situation many young boys today would envy. Did your own sons have these problems and were they home schooled at any point?

DH: My older son did leave school after 9^th grade! We fought him on it for about a year and a half, but he finally won. He thanks us to this day for letting him. He went on to the University of Chicago and still thinks it was the right thing to do.

ReaderKidZ: You obviously did a tremendous amount of research in order to write this. How were you able to select what you considered the most important milestones in Edros’s life and profession for mention in your book? Why did you choose the picture book genre?

DH: It was kind of crazy to do Paul Erdos as a picture book, but I really never thought of it any other way. It took me many many drafts to get to the core of the story. I left a lot on the cutting room floor. But once I had the core the book started to flow. Some of the choices were easy (leaving out his amphetamine use, for example). Others were hard (leaving out his father).

ReaderKidZ: You sure lucked-out with your illustrator! LeUyen Pham’s illustrations are wonderful, and her end notes (and yours) are fascinating. She put so many Erdos-specific details and math-related references into every illustration. Did you two talk to one another about the book and your visions for it, or were you as surprised as any reader when you saw what she’d created?

DH: LeUyen and I were not in contact until the last stages—when I saw sketches. When I first saw the sketches I was bowled over! It was as if she had looked inside my brain, saw what I wished she would include, and then made the pictures a zillion times better than I could have imagined them.

ReaderKidZ: In the same way that you fictionalized the life of the Darwins in a middle grade novel (Charles and Emma: The Darwin’s Leap of Faith), when can we hope to read your middle grade version of the life of Paul Erdos?

DH: Guess what? That’s not fiction! Everything in that book is true! It’s what some people call a nonfiction novel, but there’s not a thing made up. I have no plans to do anything else on Paul Erdos. Unless Hollywood comes calling. Or Broadway.

 ReaderKidZ: The Erdos Number concept is a bit like seven degrees of separation. To what do you attribute his tremendous popularity when most mathematicians are reputed to be solitary people?

DH: He really loved his friends, his friends loved him, and he really enjoyed doing math with other people. Once I was interviewing one of his best friends and after a while Joel said to me, “It’s hard to talk about Paul in anything other than religious terms.” This from a mathematician! They all just loved him, and still do! Even those mathematicians who never met him!

ReaderKidZ: When attempting to write about any famous character in history, the author must pick and choose which events to portray, what portion of their subject’s life to focus on, and how deeply to go into details. What advice would you give to any writer – young or old – who wants to write about someone famous?

DH: I would say: do a lot of research, and then give your readers YOUR take on the famous person. Have the courage to show them the person as you see her (or him). I’m telling myself that right now with my current project!

ReaderKidZ: For more about Paul Erdos and The Boy Who Loved Math, check out Deborah’s website HERE.

Earlier in the week, we learned about Melissa the author and now we’re going to get to know the person. She is the author of No Monkeys, No Chocolate and more than 150 science books for children.

What were your interests as a young person? And what did you like to read? Any favorite books?

I always loved science. Both of my parents were scientists, and they fostered my natural curiosity. My parents owned 10 acres of land on one side of my street, and there was a national forest on the other side of the street. I spent most of my childhood exploring them. Since I was always on the go, I didn’t read much as a child. I do have happy memories of devouring Mr. Mysterious and Company by Sid Fleishman.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Many writers know from early childhood that they are destined to a life devoted to putting words down on paper, but the idea never occurred to me until my final year of college. One of my biology professors knew I was struggling to choose a career path.  One day she showed me an article in Discover magazine. It was written by a woman who had graduated from my college and dealt with a topic related to my senior research project, which involved sequencing fruit fly DNA. Professor Williams told me she thought I was a good writer and could have written that piece myself. I knew she was right, and suddenly, my future path stretched out before me.

A few days later, I applied to New York University’s prestigious Science and Environmental Reporting Program. Luckily, I was accepted. After graduating, I worked as an editor for nine years. Finally, I mustered the courage to quit my job and started writing full-time. Now I get paid to learn everything I can about the natural world and share it with other people. What could be better than that?

Thus far, who has had the biggest influence in your life? Any role models growing up?

My parents were and are important role models. All of my family and friends are major influences, especially my nieces and nephews, my husband, my brother-in-law, and my writing group.

When you’re not working on a book, what might we find you doing?

When I’m not writing or speaking to kids or teachers, you can probably find me hiking or exploring the fields, forests, and wetlands near my home in Massachusetts. My husband and I spend as much time outdoors as we can.

What are three things you can’t live without? Is chocolate one of them?

I love chocolate, but I try to save it for special occasions. I don’t think I have any three things that I can’t live without, but I can’t imagine life without my husband and serene time spent in the natural world.

This month at ReaderKidZ we’re all about science and math and we’re kicking off November with a fabulous two-part interview with No Monkeys, No Chocolate author Melissa Stewart.  

No Monkeys, No Chocolate written by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young, illustrated by Nicole Wong (Charlesbridge, 2013) explains the story of where chocolate comes from in two layered levels of text. Stewart unravels the mystery in a simple text for young readers and follows it up by adding rich expository details for older readers, blending the two together seamlessly. By the end of the story, we’ve discovered the mystery of where chocolate comes from and how the cocoa beans are dependent on the cocoa pods, flowers, leaves, stems, roots, fungi, lizards, midges, maggots and yes – monkeys! Two adorable bookworms add commentary and humor and the back matter gives readers additional information on cocoa and rain forests, and how to be better stewards of the planet.

Melissa Stewart is the award winning author of over 150 science books for children. She believes nothing brings her books to life better than solid research. She has explored tropical rainforests in Costa Rica, traveled on safari in East Africa, and swum with sea lions in the Galapagos Islands, all in order to bring exciting stories to her readers.

ReaderKidZ: Where did the idea to write about No Monkeys, No Chocolate come from?

MS: It was a long, winding road to publication, so I created an Interactive Timeline to tell the story. Get the details here: http://www.melissa-stewart.com/timeline/10yr_timeline.html [Do check it out – it’s fascinating!]

ReaderKidZ: No Monkeys, No Chocolate is co-authored with Allen Young. How did you come to write this book together? He lives in Wisconsin and you live in Massachusetts. Did you write together or apart?

MS: Dr. Young is a curator emeritus of the Milwaukee Public Museum and the world’s leading expert in cocoa tree pollination and growth. He provided key research for the book—information that I couldn’t get anywhere else, but I did all the writing.

ReaderKidZ: How much research went into the writing of No Monkeys, No Chocolate?

MS: I actually researched two books while working on No Monkeys, No Chocolate. One that never got published and one that did—eventually. I spent about a year doing research, but the final critical details came from Dr. Young.

ReaderKidZ: Can you offer young people any research tips?

MS: I have four ways of getting information for all the books I write:

1. reading books, magazines, and newspapers
2. personal observations in the natural world
3. interviewing scientists and other experts
4. the internet

Sometimes I read webpages for basic background information, but my most critical use of the internet is to find experts in the subjects I write about.

ReaderKidZ: The monkey species is not named in the book? Do many different monkey species contribute to eating the cocoa pods and scattering the cocoa beans?

MS: The monkey in the book is a capuchin, and these little monkeys spread the most cocoa seeds. A few other small, squirrel-like animals also eat cocoa pulp and spread some seeds.

ReaderKidZ: How do you decide what to write about next? And where do you get your ideas from?

MS: I get ideas all the time—from things I read, people I speak to, places I visit. Getting ideas is easy, but keeping track of them can be hard. That’s why I have an idea board in my office. Whenever I have an idea, I tack it up there. Then, when it’s time to start work on a new book, I look and choose an idea off the board.

Sometimes I research an idea for a while and it turns out not to be as intriguing as I thought it would be. I drop it and move on to something else. Eventually, I find an idea that has all the ingredients for a great book and I dig into the deep research and writing process.

                                                                     Melissa’s Idea Board

Part 2 of our interview will follow later this week. See you then!