NUMBERS SPELLED OUT!
IN COLLABORATION WITH
Failure in math often starts with trouble reading.
According to the Canadian Council on Learning, 40% of children lack the reading skills needed to succeed in the workplace. As adults, they’re more likely to end up in low-paying jobs and to experience financial hardship.
Our new platform Numbers Spelled Out offers free podcasts to schools and participating libraries. The podcasts deal with math, money, saving, spending, and the value of things. Content is tailored to different age groups. There are original texts, podcasts, reading suggestions, and a quiz, all designed to promote play with numbers.
PRICELESS,
AN ORIGINAL TEXT BY NISHA COLEMAN
Podcast narrated by Noah Ruscica
Simon loved money. He loved making money and saving money and counting money. Every night before bed he would count the savings in his piggybank.
Twenty dollars of birthday money from his mom + five dollars for shovelling his neighbour Mrs. Garcia’s walkway last winter = 25 dollars
NO NOTHING NO EVERYTHING,
AN ORIGINAL TEXT BY DAVID GUTNICK
Podcast narrated by TINA MAALAOUI
First there was silence. Then there was a BIG BANG. Like the Big Bang that scientists say was at the origin of the universe. OK, I am exaggerating. It was more like a bedroom-door-being-slammed Big Bang by an 11-year-old with tears running down her face.
BALLOON PARTY,
AN ORIGINAL TEXT BY CATHERINE AUSTEN
Podcast narrated by Noah Ruscica
My little sister Sophia was turning seven. “Where’s the party?” I asked.
— “No party this year,” Mom said. “I spent too much on her bike.”
Sophia raced out of bed in her unicorn pajamas. “Today’s my birthday! Can Veronica come to my party?”
Mom sighed.
I looked online. A two-hour party at the jungle gym cost $250. “How many dollars do you have?” I asked Mom.
“Negative three hundred. You?”
For ages 10 and up
YOUR OPINION IS IMPORTANT TO US!
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE WITH OUR QUIZ: IN THE KINGDOM OF NUMBERS!
A numerical quiz for math lovers, from pre-schoolers and first-graders to grown-ups. It’s for all those algebra and geometry fans who take to numbers like fish to water. It’s also for those who may know more than they think, but who have to think harder than the math whizzes. A trivia game to change your way of looking at numbers.
(In French only)
DISCOVER OUR PODCASTS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!
Universes, voices, atmospheres, discoveries, walks, knowledge: the Blue Metropolis podcasts are an invitation to dream and knowledge. Here the time obeys others laws. It slows down, and is ready to branch out wherever he wants.
Click on the sections of your choice. Discover worlds.
THE AUTHORS
CATHERINE AUSTEN
Catherine Austen writes books for children and teens, short stories for adults, and reports for corporate clients. Her newest book, The Squirrels Stole my Sister, illustrated by Sean Cassidy, will be published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside in 2021. Catherine’s novels have won the CLA Young Adult Book Award, the Sunburst Award, the QWF Prize for Children’s Literature, and the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Award. Her short stories have appeared in The Fiddlehead, The New Quarterly, and Write. Catherine has given writing workshops and presentations from coast to coast. She lives in Gatineau, Quebec. Listen to her creative writing podcast at CabinTales.ca. Catherine Austen writes funny, sad, award-winning fiction for all ages. She has two literary novels for young adults, Walking Backward and All Good Children, two middle-grade comedies, 26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6 and 28 Tricks for a Fearless Grade 6, and one unfortunately titled picture book, My Cat Isis, illustrated by Virginie Egger. Her second picture book, The Squirrels Stole my Sister, illustrated by Sean Cassidy, has been published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside in 2020. Catherine’s books have won the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award, the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Award, the Sunburst Award, and the Quebec Writers’ Federation Prize for Children’s Literature. Catherine is a literacy tutor for Sage Youth, a mentor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and an editor for the Ottawa Public Library’s annual youth-writing anthology, Pot-pourri. She works from her home in Gatineau, Quebec. She has given readings and writing workshops at libraries, schools, and literary festivals across the country.
NISHA COLEMAN
Nisha Coleman is a writer, storyteller, and actor based in Montreal. Her stories have been featured on CBC, Moth Radio Hour, and Risk! podcast, among others. She facilitates community writing and storytelling workshops both locally and internationally. Coleman is the co-founder of Strand Storytelling School and co-artistic director of the French-language storytelling series Enfabulation. Her memoir, Busker: Stories from the Streets of Paris, was published by Radiant Press in 2016, and her children’s book, Dear Humans, was published in spring 2023 by Linda Leith Publishing.
DAVID GUTNICK
David Gutnick makes radio documentaries for CBC/Radio-Canada. Over the past 30 years he’s done stories on former child slaves in Togo, secret religious services in Beijing, and ballet dancers in an American maximum-security prison. He also writes about art and trains for Ironman triathlons. David lives in Montreal with his wife and dog, and has a grown daughter and stepson.
THE ACTORS
TINA MAALAOUI
Née à Montréal de parents d’origine marocaine, Tina est une artiste polyglotte qui parle le français, l’anglais, l’espagnol, l’arabe “darija” et le grec débutant. Elle peut aussi nuancer les accents québécois et français maghrébin. Formée à l’université de Montréal à Québec en communications – télévision profil animation, et ayant une formation en chant, en théâtre et en danse, notamment en ballet, claquette, hip hop, danse contemporaine, Tina décroche le rôle d’Anna dans le court métrage de Goalcast “When Father pushes daughter too far”, vu à ce jour plus de 9 millions de fois. En continuelle formation, Tina cumule des formations en jeu d’acteur, en jeu à la caméra, en doublage, en voix animée, en improvisation, elle est certifiée en Estill Voice Training niveau I et II et entame le processus Estill Figure Proficiency, en plus d’être membre de ToastMasters.
En 2023, Tina décroche le rôle de Sabrina dans la série Je voudrais qu’on m’efface saison 2, série récipiendaire de 3 prix, notamment « Meilleure série » dans la catégorie médias numériques au gala des prix Gémeaux 2022.
NOAH RUSCICA
Noah has acted in commercials, television programs and films. He played the lead role of Marcus in the movie The Saver by Wiebke Von Carolsfeld, which earned five major awards and six nominations at film fests around the world. He played leading roles in Game On and in programs like Lien fatal, Subito texto, and Les Gags Full Ado. Noah has also recorded voice-overs for a host of commercials. He is perfectly bilingual and is a member of ACTRA. Noah is a singer-songwriter, plays the piano and the ukulele. He’s at ease in both dramatic and comic roles.
READING RECOMMENDATIONS (In French)
POUR LES PETITS DU PRÉSCOLAIRE ET DU 1ER CYCLE DU PRIMAIRE
1, 2, 3 petits chats, Michel Van Zeveren, Éditions École des loisirs, 2007
Comme toi!, Geneviève Côté, 1, 2, 3 étoiles : je compte dans la nature, Anne-Sophie Baumann (texte) et Anne-Lise Boutin (illustrations), Éditions Rue du monde, 2012
Le triomphe du zéro, Gianni Rodari (texte) et Elena del Vento (illustrations), Éditions Circonflexe, 2012
Jour de chance, Nathalie Ferraris, Éditions de l’Isatis, 2017
Je compte avec les animaux du monde, Cathy Faucher, Éditions Goélette, 2020
Un gorille, Anthony Browne, Éditions Kaléidoscope, 2012
Les lapins savent compter, Bruno Heitz, Seuil jeunesse, 2006
Maman !, Mario Ramos, Éditions Pastel, 1999
Un petit nombre de rien du tout, Nathalie Sayac (texte) et Caroline Modeste (illustrations), Éditions Circonflexe, 2015
Une petite mesure de rien du tout, Nathalie Sayac (texte) et Caroline Modeste (illustrations), Éditions Circonflexe, 2015
Une petite forme géométrique de rien du tout, Nathalie Sayac (texte) et Caroline Modeste (illustrations), Éditions Circonflexe, 2017
Un petit calcul de rien du tout, Nathalie Sayac (texte) et Caroline Modeste (illustrations), Éditions Circonflexe, 2017
Un petit problème de rien du tout, Nathalie Sayac (texte) et Caroline Modeste (illustrations), Éditions Circonflexe, 2020
POUR LES ENFANTS DU 2E ET 3E CYCLES DU PRIMAIRE
Amandine adore la cuisine, Diya Lim (texte) et Geneviève Kote (illustrations), Dominique et Compagnie, 2012
Le problème avec les lapins, Emily Gravett; éditions Kaleidoscope, 2009
C’est mathématique !, Carina Louart et Florence Pinaud, Actes Sud Junior, 2014
C’est mathématique !, Carina Louart et Florence Pinaud, Dominique et Compagnie, 2014 (édition numérique uniquement)
Le grand livre des tailles, des poids et des mesures, Clive Gifford (texte) et Paul Boston (illustrations), Éditions Milan 2020
Fous des maths, Agnese Baruzzi, Éditions White Star Kid, 2018
Fous des maths : école d’espionnage, Agnese Baruzzi, Éditions White Star Kid, 2018
Fous des maths : vous pouvez compter sur les pirates !, Agnese Baruzzi, Éditions White Star Kid, 2019
POUR LES JEUNES DU SECONDAIRES, DU COLLÉGIAL ET PLUS ENCORE
Fric-frac parcours d’un billet de banque, André Marois (texte) et Pauline Stive (illustrations), Éditions de l’Isatis, 2020
Les maths en BD Tome 1, Larry Gonick, Éditions Larousse, 2015
Les maths en BD Tome 2, Larry Gonick, Éditions Larousse, 2015
Comment devenir un génie des maths, Georgia Amson-Bradshaw (texte) et Harriett Russell (illustrations), Éditions Nathan, 2018
La vie rêvée des maths, David Berlinski, Éditions Points, 2016
Le fascinant nombre pi, Jean-Paul Delahaye, Éditions Belin, 2018
Pythagore à la plage, Jean-Paul Delahaye, Éditions Dunod, 2021
