On Loomis Street corner where crossing lights blink
Lives Naima, who counts almost faster than think —
The steps to the mailbox, the birds on the wire,
The tiles by the door of the laundromat dryer.
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I Love Math
A Ten-Page Story to Read and Color
Ages 4–9 · Black Coloring Books
Ages 4–9 · Confidence · Patience · Fathers
I Love Math
A Ten-Page Story to Read and Color
Naima Bright counts everything on Loomis Street — the steps to the mailbox, the birds on the wire, the tiles by the laundromat door. Then a timed test goes blank on her and a boy in the back row laughs, and the notebook goes under the bed. Her father takes her out to his workshop, hands her a measuring tape, and shows her the rule that carpenters live by: measure twice, cut once. Ten rhyming pages, ten detailed line drawings, and one girl who learns that slow is not the same as stupid.
- Story spine
- A counter · The frozen test · The laughter · Her father's workshop · Steady hands
- Who you're coloring
- Naima Bright, eight years old, round glasses, two long braided pigtails with clips, denim overalls and worn sneakers. Her father Elias is a carpenter — short beard, work cap, apron with a folding ruler in the pocket, sawdust on both sleeves.
14 pages · 8.5 × 11 PDF · cover, story pages and a blank plaque to finish
Read it first — free
All ten pages
She sorts Gran's loose buttons in rows on the floor
By color, by size, then she starts them once more.
A pattern, a rhythm, a shape she can see.
“The whole world has order,” says Naima. “Ask me.”
2
But Thursday the teacher passed papers around
And started the timer. The room lost its sound.
The marks went all blurry, her pencil went slow,
And Naima, who loved it, had nothing to show.
3
The bell rang. A boy by the lockers said, “Whoa —
She acts like she's smart and she didn't even know.”
She folded the paper in fourths, then in eight,
And walked the long way to her own front gate.
4
She shoved her math notebook far under the bed
And pulled up the blanket right over her head.
“I'm not any good,” Naima said to the dark.
“I only pretended. I'm not really smart.”
5
Then Daddy looked in with his cap in his hand,
Still dusty with sawdust from work at the stand.
“Come out to the workshop. I'll show you a thing.
Bring nothing but hands and that hum that you sing.”
6
He handed her tape and he showed her a plan —
A table drawn small so a real one could stand.
“I measure it twice before ever I saw.
Fast isn't smart, baby. Careful's the law.”
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So Naima marked wood with her tongue poking out,
And her father stood back and he let her work it out.
The legs came out even. The top sat on square.
She'd built it with numbers, and numbers were there.
8
The next test came Thursday. She breathed and sat tall.
She started out slow and she worked through them all.
No hurry, no panic, her pencil stayed steady —
And when the bell rang she was done and was ready.
9
Now Naima helps Junior, who's little and new.
They lay out his buttons. He's learning them too.
So find something round in your room. Count it through —
Then draw your own pattern. What shapes will you do?
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