The Number Devil

This illustrated international bestseller follows a young boy's thrilling exploration of mathematics in his dreams.

"A natural follow-up to Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth and Jon Scieszka's Math Curse, covering more mathematical territory . . .[and] sharing the same daffy sensibility." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Bringing together the surreal logic of Alice in Wonderland and the geometrical wit of Flatland, and spicing it up with his own dry humor and passion for the magical properties of numbers, Hans Magnus Enzenberger deftly explains the basic concepts of math. In twelve dreams, Robert, a boy who hates math, encounters a sly, clever number devil who introduces him to the wonder of numbers: infinite numbers, prime numbers, Fibonacci numbers, numbers that mysteriously appear in triangles, and numbers that expand without end. As Robert—and the reader—venture deeper and deeper into this amazing dreamworld, ideas take flight and once-unfamiliar or difficult mathematical theories and principles become crystal clear.

A Los Angeles Times bestseller illustrated with whimsical full-color art, The Number Devil is a wonderful combination of knowledge, charm, and wit that will appeal to readers of all ages, from math phobics who fumble over fractions to match fanciers who can solve complex equations in their heads.

"Entertaining, amusingly illustrated. . . . Adults who know a little about math will find this book as enlightening as younger readers will."―Martin Gardner, Los Angeles Times

"Charming. . . . We all might learn more if we each had an Enzensbergian devil to beguile us into a dream [and] to give us a glimpse of the beauty and power of mathematics." —John Allen Paulos, The New York Review of Books