Q & A with author/illustrator Peggy Adler about Peggy’s Puzzles – Volume Two
Q. How did you come to write Peggy’s Puzzles – Volume Two?
A. Volume Two is actually comprised of two puzzle books that I wrote and illustrated in the mid-1970s for a New York publishing company. Metric Puzzles and Math Puzzles.
Q. What is the story behind them?
A. In 1976, an editor at New York’s Franklin Watts Publishing Company contacted me to say that the United States was going to be “metricized” in 1981. Thus, Watts wanted me to write and illustrate a book that taught the metric system through mathematical games and puzzles. Not knowing anything about the metric system, my Dad, Irving Adler, a well-known author and mathematician, came for a visit and gave me a one day crash course. That book, titled Metric Puzzles, was published in 1977 and was followed, shortly thereafter, by Math Puzzles.
Q. Were they well received?
A. Yes. The reviews were wonderful. Take a look:
METRIC PUZZLES:
"Fifty-two carefully developed games including mathematical computations, anagrams, and word puzzles teach the metric units for determining area, volume, and temperature. Readers must determine measurements for several children and three hedgehogs who take vitamin C, pick mushrooms, and travel. Peggy Adler's black-and-white pen drawings add to the fun of these
well-conceived exercises which help readers to learn important metric relationships through discovery and analysis."
-- Library Journal
MATH PUZZLES:
"Forty-four math puzzles to tease, tantalize, and teach…”
-- Anaheim Public Library
“… a choice assortment of puzzles that amuse, instruct and challenge”. -- Cleveland Public Library
…” A thorough knowledge of the basics of division, algebra and prime numbers is required” … “those who enjoy and have success in solving word problems will relish the challenge of this book.”
-- Library Journal
Q. How did these titles become available to BearManor Media?
A. Despite the excellent reviews and on-going sales, these two, along with my puzzle books published in the early 1960s, were put out-of-print in the mid-1980s. Happily, those earlier puzzle books were republished by BearManor Media as Peggy’s Puzzles – Volume One earlier this year.
Now, BearManor Media has brought these additional titles back to life as well. Just as with Volume One, all I had to do was change the names of the characters in my puzzles, who were originally named after family, friends and neighbors -- to the names of characters from Old Radio Programs, Movies and TV – or the actors, actresses and animals who portrayed them – and BearManor Media would republish Metric Puzzles and Math Puzzles in one, consolidated volume.
Q. You have said that Volume One could double as a coloring book. Is the same true for Volume Two as well?
A. Yes. As with Volume One, my illustrations are in black and white - so all you need to do is grab a box of Crayola ® Colored Pencils for a totally immersive artistic and mathematical experience
Q. Where are your puzzle books available?
A. Both books are available on-line at BearManor Media, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. They can also be purchased though any brick and mortar bookstore whose distributor is Ingram.