Mary Hynes-Berry, a founding member of Erikson’s Early Math Collaborative, donated hundreds of thoughtfully curated math-inspired picture books to the Edward Neisser Library at Erikson Institute. You can find an inventory of the complete collection here. A lifetime of collecting and storytelling led Mary to the knowledge that books and stories are among the most powerful tools available for playful “fun on your tongue” math conversations with young children. I recently sat down with Mary, surrounded by her books, to talk about her lengthy career at Erikson, and how quilts, books, and math all came together.

Rakhee: As you like to say, “it begins at the beginning,” tell me about your early days at Erikson . . .

Mary: One of the first classes I taught was a methods course, you are going to think this is crazy, it was a single methods course for mathematics, science, AND social studies. All three together! Through this class, I developed what became a signature for me, a quilting project.

Rakhee: I know you love all things quilting, but I didn’t know you integrated it into a course!

Mary: I was already convinced of the constructivist approach – that you must be an agent of your own learning. I was also very inclined to what we call “parallel processing.”

Rakhee: Parallel processing is when the learner actively constructs meaning through experience. It’s true for both children and adult learners . . . would you agree?

Mary: Absolutely! I’ll give you an example. My interest in quilts began with going to quilt auctions, that’s when I realized quilts bring math, science, and social studies together. In the methods course we started with math, asking, “What’s the math in quilts?” We looked at concepts like patterns, ratio, and measurement, and how they apply to addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Then we explored materials through science and engineering, for example, how quilts are constructed and the use of different textile materials. For social science we looked at the historical context and sociology of quilts. Of course, I have a huge collection of books on quilting that inspire me.

Rakhee: Incredible, I would have loved this course! Do you have a favorite quilt book?

Mary: One of my favorites is The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy. It is about the relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter and how a family lineage of storytelling is embodied in a patchwork quilt.

Rakhee: We are sitting in your office surrounded by your unbelievable book collection. I know storytelling has been at the center of your life, especially at the Erikson Early Math Collaborative.

Mary: Oh yes, I have always loved books and stories. I had about 15 years of experience storytelling in schools, and it was through this action research that I began to determine what children responded to.

Rakhee: What were your own experiences learning math and what connects your love of storytelling to your love of math?

Mary: I was never any good at arithmetic and didn’t like math because I thought there was no story in it. Then I realized that every math problem tells a story and I fell in love with the strategic thinking and reasoning involved in math. It is a way of thinking and making sense of the world. That is when I started to see applications to math and science in many of my favorite books. For example, you can find a pattern, which is central to mathematical thinking, in almost any book. The Three Little Pigs, Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly, I could go on and on!

Rakhee: You recently donated hundreds of your math-inspired books to the Erikson library, what would be helpful for folks to think about when choosing a math-inspired book?

Mary: There are two types of math books. First, there are math books with a math concept embedded into the story like the growing pattern in The Gingerbread Boy or a nonstandard comparison measurement tale like Knee High Man. Those are very powerful ways to clarify the Big Ideas in early math. The second type of math books do not have math embedded in the story and will need a provoking question. Stone Soup, for example, can support algebraic reasoning. We can ponder, “What is the rule for what can go in the soup and why?”

Rakhee: What are you most proud of as you reflect on your work at the Erikson Early Math Collaborative?

Being part of the collaborative has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my experience at Erikson. It is representative of everything I believe in. It gave us so many opportunities to impact teachers, and that is the gift that keeps on giving. At the Early Math Collaborative, we created workshops and learning labs, breaking down each of the mathematical Big Ideas. As a collaborative we learned from each other. The teachers experienced the math concepts through research lessons, and they saw the impact on the children. Also, it was joyful and playful in the richest sense of the word, while providing disciplined inquiry into understanding mathematical reasoning.

Developing Math All Around Me, or MAAM, (early math focusing on ages 0-3) was groundbreaking work. Conceptos matemáticos precursores is an amazing book, it is a continuation of the work from the collaborative. It professionalizes the work of early childcare workers. For many of them this was the first time they were treated with respect and what they heard was the work that they were doing was important.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Mary Hynes-Berry is the author of five books, numerous articles, and many presentations to national and international audiences. Mary has taught several courses at Erikson over the years and was one of our first online instructors. She is a founding member of the Erikson Math Collaborative and was also a key player in Erikson’s international partnership with China. One of the standout projects Mary directed was MAAM (Math All Around Me), focusing on helping caregivers of ages 0-3 understand early math concepts so they can “prepare the soil” for the mathematical seeds that will be planted in preschool and beyond.