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MathStart Level 2
Elevator Magic
“Kids, young and old, fall in love with math when they see how real-life and effortless it becomes thanks to these books.” --Kimberly D. Mueller, Ed.D., First Grade Teacher, Ashbrook School, Lumberton NJ Elevator Magic is perfect for teaching subtraction to first through third graders! When the elevator goes down, the subtraction starts, and so does the magic. Ben sees crazy things every time the door opens. Ride along as he subtracts his way down to the lobby, and decide for yourself if it’s elevator magic. Kids will love the story and the funny illustrations. Parents and educators will love how the story and pictures make understanding comparisons a breeze—as well as the concrete examples of how math works. The book contains activities for adults to do with kids to extend math into their own lives. Math skills are life skills, and the MathStart series supports success! MathStart's unique combination of stories, illustrations, and visual models helps teachers and parents in the teaching of math and provides all children with the opportunity to succeed. The math concepts taught in MathStart books conform to state and national standards. Level 1 is Pre-K–Kindergarten; Level 2 is Grades 1–3; Level 3 is Grades 2–4. The series follows math topics across grades so there is a foundational path to learning that runs through the levels. Help kids with their math skills plus their reading skills with the engaging and fun MathStart series!
40 pages, Paperback
First published August 16, 1997
7 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
About the author
Stuart J. Murphy
195 books60 followersPICTURES & WORDS, STORIES & BOOKS
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com
I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.
I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.
I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.
MATHSTART
The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.
The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.
Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )
THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL
Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”
STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN
My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.
I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.
Each book is reviewed by a tea
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com
I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.
I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.
I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.
MATHSTART
The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.
The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.
Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )
THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL
Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”
STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN
My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.
I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.
Each book is reviewed by a tea
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
October 4, 2020
Good concept tho artwork wasn’t a style we enjoyed.
January 15, 2023
I was possessed by a fierce passion to mathify my kids recently. I am so appalled by the State of Math in the US. Specifically, the state of math in our culture. Math as something people either "get" or not. What fixed mindset nonsense! I was browsing around the various math camps (Russian School of Math, Art of Problem Solving, etc) and the websites - and parent forums - were full to the gills with baloney toxic language about "my gifted child" this and "for kids who love math" that. EX-SQUEEZE ME. Do we brand libraries as a place "for kids who love reading"? Sometimes. But mostly we're like YO WE ALL GOTTA LEARN TO LOVE READING. WE START TODAY. AT BIRTH. Why not the same with math?!
I don't want my kids to be GOOD at math. This is the key point! I want them to enjoy it. I want them to see it as a useful tool. They DON'T have to have any special talent for it. Just like they don't need to be like super speed readers. I just haaaate that people (girls especially!) are subtly taught that math is a horrible chore that only a chosen few can divine. Oh PUHLEEZE.
Anyway. AMA. So I bought like a gazillion books about how MATH IS NOT SCARY, IT'S TOTALLY FINE, and have aggressively put them into rotation. This one was enjoyable. A kid presses elevator buttons (relatable), stops at fantastical floors, and does some subtraction. THANK YOU. That's all we need.
I don't want my kids to be GOOD at math. This is the key point! I want them to enjoy it. I want them to see it as a useful tool. They DON'T have to have any special talent for it. Just like they don't need to be like super speed readers. I just haaaate that people (girls especially!) are subtly taught that math is a horrible chore that only a chosen few can divine. Oh PUHLEEZE.
Anyway. AMA. So I bought like a gazillion books about how MATH IS NOT SCARY, IT'S TOTALLY FINE, and have aggressively put them into rotation. This one was enjoyable. A kid presses elevator buttons (relatable), stops at fantastical floors, and does some subtraction. THANK YOU. That's all we need.
September 7, 2023
Great book for teaching simple subtraction. I used this book in my math small groups. You can also find instructional activities to go along with it!
March 26, 2012
This is a strange, but entertaining story about a magical trip down an elevator. We've been reading lots of different books in the various MathStart series by Stuart J. Murphy. This book is in the MathStart Level 2 series and introduces the concept of subtraction to children.
The narrative is a bit silly and the illustrations by G. Brian Karas are very humorous. We enjoyed reading this book together.
The narrative is a bit silly and the illustrations by G. Brian Karas are very humorous. We enjoyed reading this book together.
February 18, 2012
This is a GREAT book to teach students about subtraction. The main character goes from floor to floor in an elevator. It allows the students to be engaged in the story while they guess what floor he will end up on. For this lesson, I covered up the answers in the story with sticky notes and asked the students what they thought the answer was. I also made a 3D ladder with a clothes line pine attached to it. The students could use this ladder as a number line, and move the clothes pin however many floors the boy went down. Loved this book! Students loved the lesson that went along with it as well.
April 25, 2021
This book uses animals to demonstrate subtraction. As the elevator goes down the main character subtracts the animals as they get off of the elevator. They then count how many animals remain in the elevator. Each page has illustrations showing the animals that are still on the elevator. You count along with the main character as you go along. Students learn how to visualize subtraction through this book.
I gave this book 5 stars because I rarely see an entertaining picture book about any kind of math. The author uses the main character to encourage the reader to substract along with them. It very clearly display how the principles of subtraction are used with the visual aid of animals on an elevator. I think it helps young students to be able to use all of their senses when considering seemingly abstract concepts in early math. They need to understand that subtraction is a real life skill that they can use on more than just worksheets. There are so many ways to use this book in math lessons.
I gave this book 5 stars because I rarely see an entertaining picture book about any kind of math. The author uses the main character to encourage the reader to substract along with them. It very clearly display how the principles of subtraction are used with the visual aid of animals on an elevator. I think it helps young students to be able to use all of their senses when considering seemingly abstract concepts in early math. They need to understand that subtraction is a real life skill that they can use on more than just worksheets. There are so many ways to use this book in math lessons.
November 23, 2020
This book is so fun and an easy follow along for children. It explores the concept of subtraction in a fun way, through a magic elevator. Ben, the main character in this story descends an elevator by subtracting the different floors, and on each floor there is something crazy and exciting that he gets to see. Him and his mother find cows and chickens at "Farm Bank and Trust", and a traffic jam at "Speedway Delivery" below that floor. This book is a great comparison tool for children to try in real life and better understand the idea of subtraction. They can also follow along while reading the book, such as practicing subtracting 2 from 8 to get from the farm bank and trust floor to the speedway delivery floor. Overall, a great, and fun read all while incorporating some math fun into it.
December 3, 2020
This fun children's book follows a young boy and his mother as they visit various floors in a building by traveling on the elevator. This text would be a great addition to a classroom library for it explains subtraction in a rhyming pattern. As the elevator descends from floor to floor, the audience is asked to think about various subtraction problems. A teacher could use this book to teach subtraction while also providing students the opportunity to solve each subtraction problem on their own before continuing on in the reading of the book. Overall, I enjoy this book and think it would be a great tool to use when teaching young learners about math and specifically subtraction.
January 22, 2022
I teach 1st grade at a public Waldorf charter school. I used Elevator Magic as one of the stories during our block on the 4 mathematical processes. This is a really great, tangible way to explore subtraction in a real-world situation. And the book is fun! My students loved the sound effects Ben would hear as the elevator stopped at each floor. They thoroughly giggles at each of the zany locations Ben and his mom visited. It also lends itself really well to some fun classroom games using our own "Magic Elevator" to visit unique places and practice subtraction story problems. Overall, a great Tier-2 book for subtraction and loved by students.
January 27, 2022
My two years old loves elevators, but this book is not his favorite. Not only the illustrations are not pretty, but also the colors are dull. I don't know how elevators are in the US, but in this little corner, they have zero, and negative numbers too. My son demanded me "MINUS ONE! MINUS ONE!", so we put post-its with zero until minus two. It is a pity because this book could have been great for understanding integers.
For kids who love elevators, the book My Dad Is an Elevator is better, though it doesn't have the math part.
For kids who love elevators, the book My Dad Is an Elevator is better, though it doesn't have the math part.
February 8, 2022
I loved this book for children! I would say more specifically for 1st-2nd grade, only because this will be helpful when learning about how to decipher word problems.
I feel like this will help kids become more familiar with the variation of phrases they'll see in math problems because of the way the story is written.
For example, when wanting the push the button the mother said "the floor is two below this one".
Overall, awesome story!
I feel like this will help kids become more familiar with the variation of phrases they'll see in math problems because of the way the story is written.
For example, when wanting the push the button the mother said "the floor is two below this one".
Overall, awesome story!
October 9, 2017
Join Ben as he rides down the elevator and makes several stops along the way. Whether helping Ben subtract to figure out which elevator button to press or listening for rhyming and onomatopoeia, children will surely be engaged!
May 28, 2021
This book is a great book for introducing subtraction to young children. This book was fun and interesting with great illustration. This book is a great book for children to explore. What a cute book that is very engaging for young children!
June 9, 2021
This story is very silly and engaging for students who are learning subtraction. The story includes visuals such as complete number sentences and a number line-like elevator that shows the math thats being done in the number sentence!
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February 22, 2022This short book incorporates reading and math. The story has math problems imbedded in the reading for the reader to solve as they go. I really liked the idea of that and had not seen it before. I for sure would read this to a class!
July 23, 2017
Subtraction as counting down.
The elevator starts at floor 10 and they make several stops on the way to floor 1.
The elevator starts at floor 10 and they make several stops on the way to floor 1.
March 2, 2018
cute subtraction story with a number line kind of feel as the son tries to figure out which button to push next on the elevator.
June 23, 2018
Fun book for kids learning subtraction.
August 22, 2018
Picture book to teach basic subtraction, set in a building with an elevator. The subtraction is going down floors and figuring out what button to press.
Ages 6-10 per Amazon.
Ages 6-10 per Amazon.
October 24, 2018
Math can be fun! This is an imaginative way of helping kids learn to read a number line. My students loved the idea that an elevator could take you to so many different places.
June 3, 2021
This is such a great book to teach subtraction! The pictures show clear visuals of subtracting in an engaging way for kids by relating it to moving down elevator floors.
March 23, 2022
Math read. Starting on the tenth floor of a building a son and his mother stop on different floors whe doing errands.
June 28, 2022
Can see adapting this for math lessons and practice
March 2, 2023
Imaginative story about subtracting
January 31, 2012
I will use this book to share with children in grades Pre-K through grade 2. It is a 31-page book with great illustrations of the main character going to different floors and having diverse experiences. As he determines each floor to go to next, he does a mathematical problem to determine what floor to which to mash the button. For example, if he is on floor 9 and wants to go to floor 2, he will subract 9-2=7 and determine he must go down 7 floors. I would use this book to accompnay a unit of addition and subtraction in my math class.
March 15, 2011
This is a great book to incorporate in a math lesson where students are learning the strategy of counting back. The story takes students on a elevator ride where Ben uses the strategy of counting back as he travels to "magical" floors in his mom's office building. This book is also great because relates such an important mathematical strategy that relates to an everyday use. This can also be extended into Language Arts as students write about where their magical elevator might take them.
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July 10, 2012This book is about a little boy who gets on a elevator and helps his mother go to various places in a building to run errands by pressing the floor numbers that she needs to go to. Throughout the book the mother indicates what floor they need to go to by indicating how many floor levels their destination is from their current floor level. This book is awesome for teaching students K-2 how many, the concept of less, and subtraction
July 18, 2012
This book serves as a nice introduction to subtraction, as the floor levels provide a visualization of counting down to see what number is less than a certain number. I also liked all the different sound words depicted, such as 'boom' and 'beep beep' since it adds a level of excitement to the story and students can "discover" for themselves what floor level the mother and her son are going to next.
July 20, 2012
I think this book will help with a introduction of basic subtraction lesson. The book uses a simple everyday activity such as using a elevator to illustrates how numbers are reduced. In the book students will be able to see how the boy started out on the 10th floor and makes his way down to the 1st floor. The vivid illustrations and creative scenarios add to the depth of information presented in this book. I think this is an excellent book which students will enjoy.
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April 10, 2011Elevator Magic is a book that effortlessly turns into a number sense lesson. Students are using their addition and subtraction skills while reading, and subsequent lessons can help students who still have difficulty with number sense. I compared the elevator to a number line with my students, which seemed to help them out. A great math/literacy integration book!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews