Murderous Maths facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Murderous Maths

The Guaranteed to Bend Your Brain cover
Author	Kjartan Poskitt
Illustrator	Philip Reeve; Ian Baker; Rob Davis; Daniel Postgate
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Subject	Mathematics
Genre	Children's; mathematics
Publisher	Scholastic
Publication date	1997 – present

Murderous Maths is a super fun series of British books written by Kjartan Poskitt. These books help kids learn maths in an exciting way! Most of them have cool drawings by Philip Reeve. A few books have illustrations by Ian Baker, Daniel Postgate, and Rob Davis.

These Murderous Maths books are popular in over 25 countries. They are made for kids aged 8 and up. The series covers everything from simple adding and subtracting to more complex ideas. You can learn about the quadratic formula and trigonometry! The books are written in a funny, informal style. It's a lot like the Horrible Histories, Horrible Science, and Horrible Geography series. They often feature silly evil geniuses, funny gangsters, and lots of jokes.

Discover the Murderous Maths Books

The Murderous Maths series has thirteen main books. They make learning maths an adventure!

• Guaranteed to Bend Your Brain (first called Murderous Maths), ISBN: 0-439-01156-6
  • This book teaches you about adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. You'll also learn about percentages, powers, and how shapes fit together (tessellation). It even explains Roman numerals and how our number system works! You'll find out about prime numbers, how we measure time, and different types of angles.

• Guaranteed to Mash your Mind (first called More Murderous Maths), ISBN: 0-439-01153-1
  • Dive into shapes like dominoes and pentominoes. Learn about length, area, and volume. Discover how to measure these things and understand speed. This book also covers the Möbius strip and the famous Pythagoras theorem.

• Awesome Arithmetricks (first called The Essential Arithmetricks: How to + - × ÷), ISBN: 0-439-01157-4
  • This book is all about basic counting and numbers. You'll learn about odd, even, and negative numbers. It helps you understand place value and how to round numbers. You'll also master long division and times tables.

• The Mean & Vulgar Bits (first called The Mean & Vulgar Bits: Fractions and Averages), ISBN: 0-439-01270-8
  • Get ready to tackle fractions! This book shows you how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide them. It also explains prime factors and how to simplify fractions. You'll learn about decimals, percentages, and different types of averages like mean, mode, and median.

• Desperate Measures (first called Desperate Measures: Length, Area and Volume), ISBN: 0-439-01370-4
  • Explore how we measure things like length, area, and volume. Learn about old measuring systems and how the metric system came to be. It covers different shapes, how to find their area, and even the Archimedes Principle about density.

• Do You Feel Lucky? (first called Do You Feel Lucky: The Secrets of Probability), ISBN: 0-439-99607-4
  • This book is all about chance and probability. You'll learn how to figure out the chances of things happening. It introduces you to Pascal's Triangle and different ways to arrange things (permutations and combinations).

• Savage Shapes (first called Vicious Circles and Other Savage Shapes), ISBN: 0-439-99747-X
  • Discover the world of geometry! Learn how to draw shapes accurately. This book covers triangles, polygons, and how shapes fit together (tessellations). It also explains circles and famous geometric theorems like Pythagoras' Theorem.

• The Key To The Universe (first called Numbers: The Key To The Universe), ISBN: 0-439-98116-6
  • Dive deep into numbers! Learn about the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci Series. Find out about prime numbers and how to test if a number can be divided. It also explores binary, octal, and hexadecimal number systems.

• The Phantom X (first called The Phantom X: Algebra), ISBN: 0-439-97729-0
  • This book makes algebra easy! You'll learn about variables, how to work with brackets, and simplify expressions. It even explains how to solve quadratic equations and understand graphs.

• The Fiendish Angletron (first called The Fiendish Angletron: Trigonometry), ISBN: 0-439-96859-3
  • Learn about trigonometry and how it helps with maps and diagrams. You'll discover SIN, COS, and TAN ratios for triangles. It also covers how to use a protractor and compass, and how to calculate distances using triangulation.

• The Perfect Sausages (first called The Perfect Sausage and other Fundamental Formulas), ISBN: 0-439-95901-2
  • This book is packed with useful formulas! Learn about areas, volumes, speed, acceleration, and force. It also explains how money works with percentages and interest.

• The 5ecret L1fe of Code5 (first called Codes: How to Make Them and Break Them), ISBN: 978-1-4071-0715-8
  • Ever wanted to make or break secret codes? This book teaches you about patterns, logic, and deduction. It also explores prime numbers and modular arithmetic, which are important for codes.

• Easy Questions, Evil Answers, ISBN: 1-407-11451-4
  • This book helps you solve tricky problems. It covers formulas, how to find square roots, and the number π. You'll also learn about paradoxes, metric prefixes, and large numbers.

There are also some puzzle books related to Murderous Maths:

• Professor Fiendish's Book of Diabolical Brain-benders, ISBN: 0-439-98226-X
• Professor Fiendish's Book of Brain-benders (a smaller version of the one above)
• Sudoku: 100 Fun Number Puzzles, ISBN: 0-439-84570-X
• Kakuro and Other Fiendish Number Puzzles, ISBN: 0-439-95164-X

One big book covers many different maths topics:

• The Most Epic Book of Maths Ever (first called The Murderous Maths of Everything), ISBN: 1-407-10367-9
  • This book is a huge collection of maths topics! It includes prime numbers, Pythagoras' Theorem, and different types of numbers like triangular and square numbers. You'll also learn about geometry, topology, the Möbius strip, and curves. It even covers the Golden Ratio, Fibonacci sequence, and probability.

Kjartan Poskitt also wrote a book for adults called Everyday Maths for Grown-Ups (2011).

Meet the Murderous Maths Characters

The Murderous Maths books feature many funny and memorable characters! Here are some of them:

• Colonel Cancel and his brave Vector Warriors
• Thag the Mathemagician, who uses maths magic
• Urgum the Axeman, Grizelda the Grisly, Hunjah the Headless, and Mungoid the Jungoid
• Professor Fiendish and his pet pig, Truffles
• The Fogsworth family, including the Duchess, the Colonel, and many more quirky relatives
• Pongo McWhiffy, a disgusting hamburger seller, and Veronica Gumfloss
• Riverboat Lil and Brett Shuffler, two old-time gamblers
• Sheerluck Homes, a funny version of Sherlock Holmes
• The Boccellis and the Gabriannis, who are gangster families
• The Evil Gollarks from the planet Zog
• Kumar, who runs a curry restaurant called The Ravenous Rajah
• The Pure Mathematicians: Janet, Matt Kimpton, Tom Winch, and an unnamed friend. These characters are named after real people!
• Luigi, who runs Luigi's Diner, where the gangsters are the only customers.

Other Books by Kjartan Poskitt

Kjartan Poskitt has also written other cool books:

• Killer Puzzles
• The Urgum The Axeman series (also illustrated by Philip Reeve)