What do you think?
Rate this book
Sir Cumference #7
Sir Cumference and the Viking's Map
For fans of the Sir Cumference series with coordinate geometry on their mind, here is the seventh installment in this fun look at math and language.
While riding through the forests of Angleland, cousins Per and Radius realize they are lost and are desperate for a map to guide them home. Soon they come across a mysterious house in the hills. Inside they find a map to a treasure belonging to Xaxon Yellowbearyd, the fiercest Viking warrior of his time. Per and Radius must decode the strange numbered grid on the map, while trying to steer clear of the pack of bungling bandits who are on their tail. Will they find the treasure in time?
Cindy Neuschwander delivers yet another intriguing math adventure featuring the well-known characters of Angleland. Readers will enjoy following Per and Radius in their quest while learning how coordinate geometry relates to everyday life. Wayne Geehan’s beautiful illustrations offer a bit of comic relief, while also clearly demonstrating the concepts explored in the story.
While riding through the forests of Angleland, cousins Per and Radius realize they are lost and are desperate for a map to guide them home. Soon they come across a mysterious house in the hills. Inside they find a map to a treasure belonging to Xaxon Yellowbearyd, the fiercest Viking warrior of his time. Per and Radius must decode the strange numbered grid on the map, while trying to steer clear of the pack of bungling bandits who are on their tail. Will they find the treasure in time?
Cindy Neuschwander delivers yet another intriguing math adventure featuring the well-known characters of Angleland. Readers will enjoy following Per and Radius in their quest while learning how coordinate geometry relates to everyday life. Wayne Geehan’s beautiful illustrations offer a bit of comic relief, while also clearly demonstrating the concepts explored in the story.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
2 people are currently reading
280 people want to read
About the author
Cindy Neuschwander
39 books55 followersCindy Neuschwander is a native Californian, born in San Diego, CA. Her father was a naval officer and later a high school teacher and her mother was a homemaker. She has one younger brother.
Cindy graduated with a BA in International Studies from Willamette University and earned an MA from Stanford University. She has taught all grades in elementary school as well as high school.
Cindy began writing books in 1994. She had used math literature with her own classes in the early 1990’s and liked the way students responded to it. She wanted to use more of these books but found there were not many available so she started writing some of her own. Her books are published by Charlesbridge, Henry Holt, and Scholastic. She usually writes one book a year.
When she is not teaching or writing, Cindy enjoys spending time with her family. She has been married to her husband, Bruce, for over 30 years. Their older son, Tim, is a medical doctor working in orthopedic research. Their younger son, Seth, is a college student training to become a firefighter. Cindy and Bruce own three dogs; two Dalmatians and a Gordon Setter. Cindy loves to travel, bike ride, and swim. She and her family are Christians who are active in their local church.
Cindy graduated with a BA in International Studies from Willamette University and earned an MA from Stanford University. She has taught all grades in elementary school as well as high school.
Cindy began writing books in 1994. She had used math literature with her own classes in the early 1990’s and liked the way students responded to it. She wanted to use more of these books but found there were not many available so she started writing some of her own. Her books are published by Charlesbridge, Henry Holt, and Scholastic. She usually writes one book a year.
When she is not teaching or writing, Cindy enjoys spending time with her family. She has been married to her husband, Bruce, for over 30 years. Their older son, Tim, is a medical doctor working in orthopedic research. Their younger son, Seth, is a college student training to become a firefighter. Cindy and Bruce own three dogs; two Dalmatians and a Gordon Setter. Cindy loves to travel, bike ride, and swim. She and her family are Christians who are active in their local church.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
November 5, 2018
The Sir Cumference books are great! Add a little action to your math by learning about the grid and X and Y.
Ages: 9+
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it!
Visit my website!
Ages: 9+
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it!
Visit my website!
November 23, 2019
I like these books because I learn about math and also they are funny.
December 31, 2017
We discovered these books about Sir Cumference on the "Tumblebooks" online audiobook site (http://www.tumblebooks.com), which is available for free as one of the online resources from our local library.
Our girls really enjoyed watching them read aloud and I think the math concepts are fairly easy to understand, even for children in grades K-2. Because the story itself is fun, it makes the educational focus of the book less apparent and more appealing.
We found that we hadn't read all of the stories in this series and we were delighted when we found the remaining books at our local library and we put them all on hold. Our girls really like these tales and I think the visual depictions of the people will help children understand the concept of plotting on an x/y axis grid (something I didn't learn until I was in high school!)
Overall, this was an entertaining story to read aloud and we enjoyed reading it together. We've read it a couple of times, also borrowing the hardcover edition from our local library.
Our girls really enjoyed watching them read aloud and I think the math concepts are fairly easy to understand, even for children in grades K-2. Because the story itself is fun, it makes the educational focus of the book less apparent and more appealing.
We found that we hadn't read all of the stories in this series and we were delighted when we found the remaining books at our local library and we put them all on hold. Our girls really like these tales and I think the visual depictions of the people will help children understand the concept of plotting on an x/y axis grid (something I didn't learn until I was in high school!)
Overall, this was an entertaining story to read aloud and we enjoyed reading it together. We've read it a couple of times, also borrowing the hardcover edition from our local library.
September 17, 2013
The extended puns this book is based on are pretty clever, and Neuscwander uses them well. The narrative thread in this installment is pretty thin, however, and seems to be little more than an excuse to trot readers around to various points on the X and Y 'axes'. But then that's in keeping with the series. These books are really more about demonstrating math concepts with a narrative coating than they are about intertwining narrative and math concepts. That is, if you weren't considering teaching cartesian plotting, not much reason to read the book. Not unlike Abbott's Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions that way.
Wayne Geehan's illustration's are a key strength in this series. He has a painterly sensibility for color and texture, but also a very good sense for narrative composition.
Wayne Geehan's illustration's are a key strength in this series. He has a painterly sensibility for color and texture, but also a very good sense for narrative composition.
August 10, 2016
Introduces Cartesian coordinates. Neuschwander does her typical great job explaining math using a simple adventure story. Some of the clever naming is less obvious in this story, however. I really had to look for it. As always, my preschooler enjoyed the story even without understanding any of the math.
December 25, 2017
The narrative here was really weak, but it was fun use of a coordinate grid and axes.
It bothered me that the axes were called X and Y axes throughout the book, even in the note at the end. The horizontal and vertical axes do not necessarily correspond to quantities x and y. It's really common for them to be x and y so much early on that it's an issue later, so it would have been nice to not see that encouraged here.
It bothered me that the axes were called X and Y axes throughout the book, even in the note at the end. The horizontal and vertical axes do not necessarily correspond to quantities x and y. It's really common for them to be x and y so much early on that it's an issue later, so it would have been nice to not see that encouraged here.
April 13, 2020
We really like both the Sir Cumference books that we've read and the clever way that they introduce maths concepts within the story text.
Miss 5 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
Miss 5 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
July 22, 2021
COORDINATE
Great book to study coordinate geometry.
Showing how to read coordinate in a creative way, through finding treasure.
Two character follow some coordinate in a map to find treasure of the great Viking.
Great book to study coordinate geometry.
Showing how to read coordinate in a creative way, through finding treasure.
Two character follow some coordinate in a map to find treasure of the great Viking.
March 16, 2019
Cute way to introduce the coordinate plane!
February 18, 2019
I didn't feel like there was a lot of math in this book. It was a clever way to explain the concepts of x & y axis, coordinates, and negative numbers. The story was okay.
Read
June 26, 2019Fictional story -
Math Concept: Coordinate plane - x&y axis
Math Concept: Coordinate plane - x&y axis
August 19, 2020
We love the Sir Cumference books, such witty and educational books about math!
September 25, 2020
These books are so clever at introducing maths concepts in a fun and relatable way. They are a win for our home school.
February 24, 2022
One of the better stories
December 14, 2022
It's a basic picture book but our math-loving 10-year-old who is also into medieval things still liked it.
January 27, 2023
I wasn't expecting a ghostly Viking to appear, but the illustrations and story did a great job explaining how x & y "axes" relate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2023
First Sir Cumference book!!! So excited to show my kiddos 🙃
August 26, 2024
Nice short adventure story with coordinates. How to read an X,Y grid.
October 15, 2025
Great series to help teach math vocabulary and application to everyday life in an imaginative way. Makes me think of the magic treehouse series adventures.
September 15, 2024
Sir Cumference is a series of entertaining, clever, and imaginative medieval fantasy tales set in a world full of fun geometry-based names and lands. The reader follows the adventure of each book and discovers new math concepts along with the knights and ladies in the stories - and sometimes dragons. I've always loved a good picture book, and I still do - and these books are a wonderful example of a quality picture book. I've enjoyed Sir Cumference immensely in both childhood and adulthood.
Each book is engaging and well-written, with endearing and clever characters, exciting adventures, and humor throughout. I laugh at the puns and plays on words and at the hilarious situations the characters often go through. I'm amazed at the loveliness of the illustrations, which - like the text - are colorful, funny, exciting, and imaginative, as well as beautifully painted on actual canvas, with gorgeous lighting and color.
And the math concepts presented in the text are humourously, clearly, and simply explained, while still retaining complex and sophisticated information of basic geometry and sometimes other areas of math. And in the context of a fun story, they're easy to remember and recall. A very young child can understand the explanation of the basic concept, the full explanation can aid the learning of an older student, and teens and adults can enjoy the clever books just as much.
I'm good at math, but it's never come easily to me, as it does for my siblings. I struggle to learn and understand math concepts when I can't understand the why and how behind them. Even as a teen and adult, and as a child, reading Sir Cumference helped give me that brilliant light-bulb moment of finally understanding why the equation to find the circumference or area of a circle is the way it is, and works the way it does. The books break these concepts down and show them in concrete, tangible ways, rather than only abstract, nebulous numbers and equations. This way, it's easy to understand how the equation works to produce the number, instead of being unreachable and impossible to wrap one's mind around. Weaving the math into the context of an imaginative story with relatable characters also helps so much, because that's how my mind and imagination engage best with information. If I get the chance to follow in my parents' steps and homeschool my own kids someday, or even if I don't, I will definitely be using these books to teach my future children, if I have any.
I first read the Sir Cumference series as an elementary school-aged child, and I've loved them ever since. The stories have always made me laugh and captured my imagination. It's been a few years since I've read them, and upon rereading the series, I'm pleased to find that the books are are just as wonderful and quality now that I'm an adult and a writer. I was also overjoyed to recently discover the existence of more Sir Cumference sequels that I'd wished for for many years.
I grew up with the first four SirSir Cumference books, and they're special to me, but I enjoyed a couple of the new ones just as much. The first four books in the series are best read in order, but some of the later books were not published chronologically, and they can be read in any order after the first book. For instance, The Isle of Immeter can be read in any order after the first two books, but it should be read before The Viking's Map, since it introduces a new female protagonist. My favorite books in the series are definitely the ones featuring Sir Cumference's son Radius as the main character - the ones I grew up on, and also the slightly newer books I read more recently that follow both Radius and his female cousin Per of Immeter.
The Sir Cumference books are full of sweet characters, exciting tales, adventure, entertaining humor, learning, and more. All this is contained in a short picture book - no small feat! I highly recommend the Sir Cumference series to people of all ages who enjoy a clever and fun story, especially to teachers and homeschoolers for teaching math in an entertaining and engaging manner.
Each book is engaging and well-written, with endearing and clever characters, exciting adventures, and humor throughout. I laugh at the puns and plays on words and at the hilarious situations the characters often go through. I'm amazed at the loveliness of the illustrations, which - like the text - are colorful, funny, exciting, and imaginative, as well as beautifully painted on actual canvas, with gorgeous lighting and color.
And the math concepts presented in the text are humourously, clearly, and simply explained, while still retaining complex and sophisticated information of basic geometry and sometimes other areas of math. And in the context of a fun story, they're easy to remember and recall. A very young child can understand the explanation of the basic concept, the full explanation can aid the learning of an older student, and teens and adults can enjoy the clever books just as much.
I'm good at math, but it's never come easily to me, as it does for my siblings. I struggle to learn and understand math concepts when I can't understand the why and how behind them. Even as a teen and adult, and as a child, reading Sir Cumference helped give me that brilliant light-bulb moment of finally understanding why the equation to find the circumference or area of a circle is the way it is, and works the way it does. The books break these concepts down and show them in concrete, tangible ways, rather than only abstract, nebulous numbers and equations. This way, it's easy to understand how the equation works to produce the number, instead of being unreachable and impossible to wrap one's mind around. Weaving the math into the context of an imaginative story with relatable characters also helps so much, because that's how my mind and imagination engage best with information. If I get the chance to follow in my parents' steps and homeschool my own kids someday, or even if I don't, I will definitely be using these books to teach my future children, if I have any.
I first read the Sir Cumference series as an elementary school-aged child, and I've loved them ever since. The stories have always made me laugh and captured my imagination. It's been a few years since I've read them, and upon rereading the series, I'm pleased to find that the books are are just as wonderful and quality now that I'm an adult and a writer. I was also overjoyed to recently discover the existence of more Sir Cumference sequels that I'd wished for for many years.
I grew up with the first four SirSir Cumference books, and they're special to me, but I enjoyed a couple of the new ones just as much. The first four books in the series are best read in order, but some of the later books were not published chronologically, and they can be read in any order after the first book. For instance, The Isle of Immeter can be read in any order after the first two books, but it should be read before The Viking's Map, since it introduces a new female protagonist. My favorite books in the series are definitely the ones featuring Sir Cumference's son Radius as the main character - the ones I grew up on, and also the slightly newer books I read more recently that follow both Radius and his female cousin Per of Immeter.
The Sir Cumference books are full of sweet characters, exciting tales, adventure, entertaining humor, learning, and more. All this is contained in a short picture book - no small feat! I highly recommend the Sir Cumference series to people of all ages who enjoy a clever and fun story, especially to teachers and homeschoolers for teaching math in an entertaining and engaging manner.
February 21, 2013
Best for kids ages 6 and up.
Early Literacy Skills: Vocabulary, Narrative Skills
From cover:
X and Y mark the spot.
Xaxon Yellowbeardy was the fiercest Viking warrior of his time. Now a map to his hidden treasure lies in the hands of Radius and Per. Together the cousins must decode the strange numbered grid on the map and figure out the secret of the Viking's X and Y axes. As bandits pursue them, Radius and Per track down clues and use coordinate geometry in their quest for "treasure of the greatest measure."
Another math adventure with Sir Cumference this time staring his son Radius and niece Per with this nicely illustrated story about being careful about grouping and place value.
Early Literacy Skills: Vocabulary, Narrative Skills
From cover:
X and Y mark the spot.
Xaxon Yellowbeardy was the fiercest Viking warrior of his time. Now a map to his hidden treasure lies in the hands of Radius and Per. Together the cousins must decode the strange numbered grid on the map and figure out the secret of the Viking's X and Y axes. As bandits pursue them, Radius and Per track down clues and use coordinate geometry in their quest for "treasure of the greatest measure."
Another math adventure with Sir Cumference this time staring his son Radius and niece Per with this nicely illustrated story about being careful about grouping and place value.
November 8, 2013
When reading this aloud to my 5th grade class, one of the students exclaimed halfway through, "BAD MATH PUNS!" They were enjoying it. The adventure kept them interested and the prospect of treasure even more so. I liked the math vocabulary sprinkled throughout - especially the axes. Xaxon Yellowbeard's initials (xy) was also clever and I'll be using it for some of my kids who mix up the order of their coordinates. I also liked how the children tried to follow the y-axis first but hit a dead end.
April 12, 2016
This one explains mapping (and graphing) using an X axis and a Y axis, or coordinate geometry or analytical geometry. The schtick in this one is that the map was laid out using an actual X Axe and a Y Axe, with point (0,0) being where they meet in the middle, hence the new name, X Axis and Y Axis. Like every other book in this series, "Sir Cumference and the Viking's Map" does an excellent job explaining math skills in a way that's entertaining and actually makes sense. Enjoy!
July 11, 2014
This is my first Sir Cumference. I love the idea about using math as a main concept in an adventure story. It's nice to see the illustrations and story help out with the concept of a grid with X,Y axis. This book would be good for a lesson plan on this math topic.
March 12, 2012
teachers resource about geography
August 11, 2013
A story about coordinate geometry. Radius and Per use what they learn to find maps to all of Angleland.
September 13, 2014
Coordinate geometry
December 29, 2014
Great to teach coordinate plane
Read
February 14, 2016Clever introduction to coordinate geometry with the children, Per and Radius, of Sir Cumference and Lady Di of Ameter.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews