Math resource and biography for all - even those who are not mathematically inclined, Alznauer's text highlights Ramanujan's early life, how he thought and how he was misunderstood for a long time. Miyares' illustrations glow and radiate, highlighting the power of Ramanujan's imaginative and powerful mind as he worked and uncovered mathematical and scientific truths..Rich and fascinating, this picture book biography opens new worlds of mathematical discovery to its readers. Appropriate for ages 6-9.

This is the story of an amazing mathematical genius who was born in India in 1887. He sees math everywhere, contemplating what small and big actually meant. When he started school, the teacher was not interested in his questions, so Ramanujan got bored and tried to sneak away to think his own thoughts. He wondered about the infinity possible in ordinary objects like mango that can be sliced again and again. Doing sums at school, he figured out the sums inside the sums they were doing, once again breaking things down. As he grows up, he reinvents mathematics, working from college textbooks and solving all of the problems. Still, he is just an unknown person in India, how can he find someone who understands what he is doing?

The joy of discovering Ramanujan’s math is that even for children or those who are not mathematically inclined, his theories resonate and encourage everyone to start thinking beyond the strictness of school math. Alznauer pays homage to this great genius, showing how he grew up, how he thought and how he was misunderstood for a very long time until being discovered by mathematicians in England.

The art is done in ink that flows at times like watercolors. Miyares captures the glow of invention, the heat of imagination in his illustrations. He also shows the solitude of Ramanujan in a captivating way.

Rich and fascinating, this picture book biography opens new worlds of mathematics to its readers. Appropriate for ages 6-9.

When there is a child in one's life who asks what you know to be unusual questions, perhaps even ones you have no way of understanding, you know that she or he holds a dream you may not understand, even from a young age, but you will support him or her in finding answers.
That is the kind of picture book story that Amy Alznauer tells in this intriguing look at a young boy from India who even in his early years begins a search to answer his questions. From the text: "A mango . . . is just one thing. But if I chop it in two, then chop the half in two, and keep on chopping, I get more and more bits, on and on, endlessly, to an infinity I could never ever reach."
His name is Ramanujan, born in 1887 with a passion for numbers, soon writes numbers in certain ways in the sand, in his notebooks, with chalk on a temple floor. He asks questions like "What is small?" and "What is big?" His studies at school do not go well because he only desires to study numbers. Thankfully, his mother supports him in his quest. The story shows some of the number concepts he explores, like prime numbers. Amy Alznauer includes those and a few other concepts while she tells this fascinating story while Daniel Miyares' illustrations follow this 'dream-like' story with 'dream-like' illustrations. They add magic to an already magical story.
At the story's end, we learn that Ramanujan's work changed mathematics and science forever. In the back matter, readers will find a bibliography and an author's note that shares even more of this remarkable life. There is a surprise in this note that tells of the author's father's amazing discovery of Ramanujan's Lost Notebook.
I enjoyed the book, thought of previous students who loved math exploration and how much they would have enjoyed reading of this boy so long ago with a passion he would not stop investigating.