Nov 27 - Nov 29
Pine Crest Upper School student Ashvin Kumar ’21 has published his first children’s book.
“The Number Monster” details the journey of a young boy named Raj overcoming his struggle with math. The story emphasizes life lessons, such as persevering through difficult times and reaching out to parents and teachers for support. Also included in the book are practice problems offering fun tricks to tackle two-digit addition.
Ashvin with his friend and co-author Tarun Kumar Martheswaran were inspired to write “The Number Monster” after noticing that many children were scared to pursue math.
“As a person who has always loved math and continues to enjoy it,” said Ashvin, “I was disheartened that the subject was not as interesting to many children.”
All profits raised from the book are donated to The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which works in over 190 countries and territories to save children's lives, to defend their rights, and to help them fulfill their potential, and The Conscious Kid, an education, research, and policy organization dedicated to equity and promoting positive racial identity development in youth.
“Ultimately, I hope that our book encourages children to embrace math instead of fearing it.”
The Number monster is partly dedicated to Upper School math instructor Mr. Rob Solomon, "my past math teacher, and one of my favorite teachers at Pine Crest!"
Congratulations, Ashvin!