cover image Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature

Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature

Sarah C. Campbell, , photos by Sarah C. and Richard P. Campbell. . Boyds Mills, $17.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-59078-752-6

Two picture books explore one of the most famous sequences of numbers. (No, not the ones on Lost .)

Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature Sarah C. Campbell , photos by Sarah C. and Richard P. Campbell. Boyds Mills , $17.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-59078-752-6

This husband-and-wife team, who collaborated on Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator , turn their attention to the Fibonacci sequence of numbers, employing photographs from nature, basic addition, and reader-directed text to explain it. Beginning with an image of a seed, Campbell moves through the first numbers, adding images of flowers with petals that match Fibonacci numbers (the flowers are set within boxes sized to correspond to the numbers as well). By the time readers reach a yellow cosmos, with eight petals, the flowers take up an entire page, laying visual groundwork for a later representation of the numbers as a spiral. The Campbells also explore more complex appearances of the sequence in nature and note that while Fibonacci popularized these numbers, they had already been known to Indian scholars. Besides being eye-catching, the photographs ought to prove invaluable for visual learners (spiral patterns in a pinecone are darkened for visibility). Kids should be left with a clear understanding of the pattern and curious about its remarkable prevalence in nature. Ages 5–11. (Mar.)