What do statistics and cartoons have in common?  They are both combined beautifully in a new study guide for students that blew me away with its practicality and possibilities.  Intrigued?  This book is just the beginning. 

Statistics isn’t something I look forward to teaching my kids.  (In fact, its one of those subjects I’d rather let the community college handle.)  When I recently discovered The Manga Guide to Statistics by Shin Takahashi, I just about flipped!  Here was a comic book, full of brilliant Manga illustrations, and it spoke the language of statistics so clearly! 

I have never even wanted to broach the subject of statistics (especially at my stage in life.)  When I started reading through the manual, however, I actually started to get it!  (Could you imagine the possibilities for a student who was resistant to learning difficult math subjects, or for those attention-lacking kids who only read comic books?) 

This is a perfect addition to a homeschool curriculum, but I think it’s great for anyone wanting an introduction or a refresher on statistics.  (This could really come in handy for those college courses!)  I got a chuckle out of the use of real-life situations (in Japan, specifically) that the comic used to teach:  the relative frequency of Ramen shops in a shopping mall, the correlation of gender and the preferred method of asking for a date, and normal distribution as it relates to test scores.  (Did I lose you, yet?) 

The 215-page softcover includes a step-by-step guide to using excel for calculations, tests, exercises, and a summary for each illustrated chapter.  The Manga Guide to Statistics is just one of many Manga educational offerings from No Starch Press.  For a full list of titles, including Databases, Calculus, Physics-Dynamics, and Molecular Biology, see their website at www.edumange.me.    (The book, along with a preview of the content, is available at Amazon.com.)