My books

We have less than 36 hours to go on the Tabletop Math Games Collection Kickstarter.

Thank you so much to everyone who has backed these fun books. Your encouragement and support keep me going!

For procrastinators, get thee to the Kickstarter:

Order Your Books Now ❯

Don’t Put It Off

Most of my books eventually show up in the regular online bookstores, making it easy to delay purchasing.

But these are not typical paperback or hardcover books. Instead, they’re designed to lay flat so players can use the gameboards or easily refer to rules as they play.

I don’t know whether the online bookstores will stock these titles.

But I do know we’re counting down the hours on our Tabletop Math Games Collection Kickstarter campaign.

Do you really want to miss out?

Scroll down for a peek at what other people say about my math games.

Then order your copy today, and have fun playing math with your kids!

Readers Love These Games

👍 “When I’m asked about resources for math games, Denise Gaskins is one of the first names I mention.”
—Dan Finkel, creator of the Prime Climb math board game

❤️ “If I could go back in time, I would play a lot more games.”
—Carla Roesler, homeschooling parent

👍 “The directions are clear, it is easy for parents to pick up and use, yet it gets to the heart of mathematical thinking in a fun, engaging way.”
—Casey Maupin, homeschooling parent

❤️ “The games are easy to put into practice (even for a mom of 4 with 2 toddlers) and something my daughter would participate in willingly or even enjoy (which is saying a lot for a teen who doesn’t always appreciate a challenge). Clever, helpful, and creative in ways I’d never come up with.”
—Casey Baldwin, homeschooling parent

Visit the Kickstarter ❯

My new math book series, the Tabletop Math Games Collection, launches exclusively on Kickstarter next week. I can hardly wait!

Get Notified When We Go Live
(free Kickstarter account required)

And I’m trying several new reward options I’ve never done before. (The “rewards” on Kickstarter are all the various things you can buy with your support pledge.)

Here’s a quick peek at a few of the new things to come.

This is going to be so much fun!

Math Games Book Boxes

You can choose from two sizes.

The smaller Math Games Book Box includes one paperback Math Games Booklet at your child’s level: Early Games, Primary Games, or Advanced Games. Plus one enamel pin, and either a set of cards and dice or a small whiteboard with markers.

The Mega Math Games Gift Box includes the spiral-bound Deluxe Omnibus book (which contains all three smaller books and more), plus all unlocked pin designs, and plenty of cards, dice, and other handy supplies shown above. (Colors will vary.)

Enamel Pins

Show your gaming spirit with these cool enamel pins.

By popular request, we have enamel pins in four designs. The first two are available immediately, and two more will unlock as Stretch Goals.

• “Let’s Play Math” in cool spring colors
• “Let’s Play Math” in warm fall colors
• 🔒 [Locked] Deck of playing cards (unlocks at Stretch Goal #1)
• 🔒 [Locked] Penrose triangle of rainbow blocks from the back of the playing cards (unlocks at Stretch Goal #3)

Pins are about 1″ diameter hard enamel, for the perfect combination of durability and fun color. Backed with a metal military-style butterfly clip for extra strength, so it won’t fall off your backpack or bag.

If you choose a reward level that includes pins, or buy them as an add-on to another level, be sure to fill out your post-campaign survey to tell me which design you want.

Limited International Shipping

Digital rewards are available worldwide.

For physical books and merchandise, I can offer shipping to a few countries with small-business-friendly tax laws:

• UK, for books only (no merchandise)
• European Union
• Canada
• Australia
• New Zealand
• South Africa
• and the US, as always

You may owe import duties and VAT before you can claim your package. I have no control over the customs clearance process in your country, so you might want to check with your local customs officials or post office for details on what to expect.

Sign Up To Get Notified

I’m finishing up my plans for the Tabletop Math Games Collection project and pledge levels. The Kickstarter launches in two weeks. Where did the time go?!

But I need help. Could you please take a few minutes to look over the project page and give me some feedback?

• Preview & Comments Page
  (NO account required to see the preview, but you may need to log in if you want to leave a comment.)

It’s so hard to edit myself because I miss too many mistakes. So having new eyes on the page would be a great help in catching typos and making sure the descriptions make sense and are as clear as possible.

Here’s a screenshot of what you’ll see:

There’s a place to enter comments on the right. Or you can email me directly with anything you want to share.

There’s also a Notification link at the top left corner of the page, for anyone who hasn’t yet signed up for Kickstarter to tell you when the project launches.

Thank you so much for the feedback!

Yes, I’d Love To Help. Let’s Go!

Are you looking for new math activities to play with your kids?

I just added several new ebooks to my publisher’s online store, including the exclusive pre-publication edition of my new book Word Problems from Literature: Help Students Master Problem Solving in Elementary to Middle School Math. You can preorder the book through your favorite online bookshop — or you can get it today at our store, in all digital formats.

And through the end of November, you can get 20% off anything in our store by using the coupon code SALE2022 at checkout.

While you’re there, be sure to check out our new collections!

You can buy resources for problem-solving in the Word Problems collection, including the 97-minute audio commentary with special behind-the-scenes tips and tidbits:

Or explore the wealth of resources for creative mathematical investigations in our Math Journaling collection:

And of course, be sure to check out the free books and discount bundles. You can even pick up my daughter’s epic fantasy adventure, The Riddled Stone.

But don’t delay! The special discount code SALE2022 expires at the end of November.

There’s just over 24 hours left to get Word Problems from Literature and the Word Problems Student Workbook on Kickstarter.

Don’t miss out!

Get It Now

The Kickstarter campaign is roaring along. We hit our funding goal and plenty more, paying for two extra chapters (one on decimals and the other on percents, rates, and proportional reasoning) plus a special section on making the transition to algebra.

That means Word Problems from Literature will truly be a thorough guide to mastering problem-solving in elementary and middle school math.

And we’ve got plenty of goodies besides the book:

• The Case of the Mysterious Story Problem: A short treatise on how to solve math problems, written directly to the student by the master of deduction, Sherlock Holmes. Includes the printable poster, “Be a Math Detective” in full color and ink-saving black & white.

• Audio Commentary (and annotated pdf): An exclusive mp3 recording to play on your phone or other device, with additional math tips and behind-the-scenes tidbits.

• Make Your Child (or Yourself) a Character: Your child can be a character in a prealgebra story problem. Only 3 slots remaining: captive prince/princess (or the dragon), fantasy warrior king/queen, or a starship captain (or the ship’s engineer).

• Math You Can Play: All my math games, journaling resources, and other playful math books are available as add-on purchases in ebook or paperback format.

So many great ways to play math with your kids!

Get Yours Before Time Runs Out

And as a bonus, anyone who pledges in these final days will get an extra printable activity guide: Diffy Inception. It’s a great way to get kids playing with fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals.

To everyone supporting my Kickstarter project so far: thank you ever so much! We’ve blown past our funding target, and we’re now working on the Stretch Goals to see how many extras we can add to improve the book.

If you haven’t backed the project yet, check out what you’re missing:

Visit the Kickstarter

Why I love Word Problems from Literature

As a math coach, I love teaching adults and children how to learn math through play. And I’ve written several books full of games and activities to help families play math together.

I show parents and teachers how to look at math with fresh eyes. To explore the adventure of learning math as mental play, which is the essence of creative problem-solving. Mathematics is not just rules and rote memory. Math is a game, playing with ideas.

But at heart, I’ve always been a fiction fan — especially fantasy fiction. And this book, Word Problems from Literature, lets me bring that love of story to the surface.

This is one of my all-time favorite books, and I’ve had so much fun with this new edition: adding stories, writing make-your-own-problem prompts, sneaking extra teaching tips into the worked-out solutions, creating an almost-magical guide to helping kids learn math.

I’ve taken a few screenshots to let you peek inside the new edition. If you like what you see, come over to the Kickstarter and order your copy today.