STOP MATH Releasing on October 4
October 2nd, 2012
New York Times bestselling illustrator and children’s book author, Jeff Weigel, has announced the release of the his interactive storybook app for iPad, STOP MATH, published by Happy Badger Studio and Rampant Interactive. The app takes advantage of the iPad’s technology to involve kids in an entertaining time-travel adventure while introducing them to the wonders of math and science.
The story, for children ages 8 to 12, follows a boy from the future and his robot dog as they travel back through time and space on a quest to find the “evil” genius who invented math and put an end to math homework forever. As they travel, the two characters cross paths with Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton, and learn there’s more to math than just homework.
“I wrote STOP MATH because I wanted to find a way to tell kids about the wonderful things that math can do,” says Weigel. “I wanted to introduce them to the idea that math is the key to understanding the universe.”
Weigel’s graphic, realistic illustration style—adapted from his years as a comic book illustrator—and his sense of humor engages young readers and involves them in math, history and science in a way seldom seen in children’s fiction. In addition to the colorful artwork, the app employs interactive animation and diagrams and a young narrator to explain concepts such as Arabic numbers, Roman numerals, relativity theory and gravitational attraction.
“The iPad’s amazing capabilities are a perfect fit for this book,” says Weigel. “It gave me the opportunity to tell kids about the history of math, relativity and gravity in a way that’s entertaining—the animation and interactivity make it fun to read. Kids even enjoy the parts where they have to do some calculations to move the story
forward.”
STOP MATH received positive reviews from educators who tested the app during its development phase. Weigel noted that the teachers, “thought it would be useful in the classroom to get their students more interested in math.”
STOP MATH is available for download on the iPad at Apple’s App Store for $3.99. Developed by Casual Labs, the app is published by Happy Badger Studio in association with Rampant Interactive of St. Louis, Missouri. To learn more about this unique new storybook app, go to www.stopmath.com.
About the Author: Jeff Weigel’s other books for children include The Monster Alphabet, by Michael P. Spradlin, illustrated by Weigel, published in 2012 by Price Stern Sloan; and the children’s graphic novel, Thunder From The Sea, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, about a young boy’s adventure in the British navy during the Napoleonic War. Weigel also wrote, illustrated and designed Atomic Ace (He’s Just My Dad) published by Albert Whitman & Company in 2004, and the sequel, Atomic Ace and the Robot Rampage, published in 2006. Atomic Ace received a starred review in School Library Journal and was a Parents’ Choice 2004 Recommended Award Winner.
Weigel’s humorously ghoulish illustrations were instrumental in propelling It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Zombies: A Book Of Zombie Christmas Carols by Michael P. Spradlin onto the 2009 New York Times bestseller list. Weigel contributed illustrations for the two follow-up books in the series, Every Zombie Eats Somebody Sometime: A Book of Zombie Love Songs, and Jack and Jill Went Up to Kill: A Book of Zombie Nursery Rhymes. All three are published by HarperCollins.
