The Boy Who Loved Math

★ “An exuberant and admiring portrait introduces the odd, marvelously nerdy, way cool Hungarian-born itinerant mathematical genius. Heiligman’s joyful, warm account invites young listeners and readers to imagine a much-loved boy completely charmed by numbers. Paul Erdös was sweetly generous throughout his life with the central occupation of his great brain: solving mathematical problems…The polished, disarming text offers Pham free rein for lively illustration that captures Erdös’ childlike spirit…An extensive author’s note includes a bit more biographical information about Erdös…Social learners and budding math lovers alike will find something awesome about this exceptional man.” – Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “Though eccentric mathematician Paul Erdős might seem an unusual subject for a picture book, his story makes for a memorable biography. Growing up in Hungary during World War I, Erdős tried school but chafed at the rules and convinced his mother that he should study at home. He was fascinated by numbers from an early age, and by the time he was 20, he was known as “The Magician from Budapest.” Unable to do common tasks such as cooking, laundry, or driving, he spent his adult life flying around the world, staying with other mathematicians, and working collaboratively on challenging math problems. Math is woven into the lively writing (“Mama loved Paul to infinity. Paul loved Mama to, too!”). The wonderfully vivid artwork, where ideas from the text are clarified, also uses decorative elements to support the idea that Erdos saw the world differently—numerically. Heiligman appends a lengthy note about writing the book, while Pham offers a more extensive note on creating the illustrations, in which she comments on the mathematical ideas and mathematicians depicted in the art. This excellent picture-book biography celebrates a man little known outside his field, but one well worth knowing.”—Carolyn Phelan— Booklist, starred review.

★ “As a boy in Budapest, Paul Erdos (1913–1996) had problems to solve, but they didn’t involve math. Rules were a problem, and school was another: “Paul told Mama he didn’t want to go to school anymore. Not for 1 more day, for 0 days. He wished he could take days away—negative school days!” Heiligman and Pham cleverly incorporate mathematical references through this story, which follows Erdos from a numbers-obsessed boy to a numbers-obsessed man who flouted societal norms and couch-surfed the globe—other mathematicians were honored to have him as a guest for the chance to talk math with him. Erdos’s unconventional brilliance shines through on every page, and extensive author and illustrator notes (including Pham’s explanations of the mathematical concepts she works into each illustration) will delight readers with even a fraction of Erdos’s interest in math.” — Publisher’s Weekly, starred review. 

Horn Book also gave it a great review: Heiligman and Pham combine their considerable talents in this unique look at the “Magician from Budapest,” nomadic mathematician Paul Erdős (1913–96). A precocious youngster, Paul hates rules. Cared for by his doting mother and imperious “Fräulein,” young Paul is spoiled rotten—the two women “cut his meat and buttered his bread and got him dressed and tied his shoes.” But where the mundane details of daily life don’t do much for Paul, numbers are a different story. Paul “thought about math whatever he was doing, wherever he was” as he grows into one of the world’s renowned intellectuals. Not one for settling down, Paul travels the world, lecturing and attending math meetings, all while others “did his laundry and cooked his food and cut open his grapefruit and paid his bills.” Heiligman presents Paul as an appealing eccentric: for instance, Paul referred to children as “epsilons” (because epsilon “is a very small amount in math”). Pham’s artwork is inspired—her characters have a timeless quality, and each illustration is a puzzle for the reader to solve, with prime numbers hidden on buildings and complex numerical concepts seamlessly integrated into the fabric of many pictures. While the overall layout is high in reader appeal, the font size is far too small for the target audience. Especially tiny are the otherwise excellent author’s and illustrator’s notes, which further demonstrate their respect and admiration for Erdős and are well worth the potential eye strain. Design flaws aside, this is an infinitely creative and entertaining book for epsilons, numerically inclined or no.

“What if you spent every waking day so engrossed in a single pursuit, so immersed in your life’s passion that you had little time, or interest, in learning anything else: how to cook, pay bills, do laundry, or even butter toast? Such is the story of eccentric Hungarian mathematician, Paul Erdos. For Erdos, who published more than 1,500 math papers, time not discussing number theory and combinatorics was time wasted. In The Boy Who Loved Math, Heiligman traces Erdos’s unconventional life from his early childhood obsession with numbers (he could instantly calculate how many seconds a person had lived based on birth date) to his vagabond-like, academic globetrotting. He would show up on other mathematicians’ doorsteps in the middle of the night to stay and work, greeting each with his familiar salutation, “My brain is open!” A man known for having few possessions and living out of two small suitcases, Erdos gave many monetary awards to the poor and set up prize money to be given to those who answered unsolved math problems. He is perhaps most noted for advancing the field through his frequent collaborations with other lovers of numbers.

Heiligman smartly breathes life into both Erdos’s genius and peculiarities, giving young readers a much richer portrait than what is often seen in a standard children’s biography. Pham’s retro-style illustrations capture not only Erdos’s idiosyncrasies, but also cleverly incorporate the world of math. She saturates the pages with mathematical concepts such as harmonic primes, amicable numbers, Euclid’s Proof of the Infinity of Prime Numbers, and the Sieve of Eratosthenes. Doing so gives the story an added texture and depth. While not mentioned in the body of the book, Erdos’s Jewishness is touched upon briefly in the extensive author’s note. All “epsilons” (Erdos’s word for “children”) will enjoy reading about “The Magician from Budapest.” Highly recommended. Allison Marks, Temple Israel Library, Akron, OH The Association of Jewish Libraries.