OPTICAL ILLUSION

These optical illusions have more magic than any others! That’s because this fun and visually enticing pack gives kids something special: The opportunity to play with the images, not just look at them. It’s created by the much-respected and prolific author Martin Gardner, who wrote the “Mathematical Games” column in Scientific American for more than a quarter of a century. Gardner’s numerous puzzle collections, as well as his expert writing on math and science, have made him a force to be reckoned with in the field. Packaged right inside the book are lots of punch-out cards that will enhance every illusion…plus a vinyl pouch for safely storing the cards afterwards. So when children try to figure out if the two differently shaped tables in a picture are actually the same size, they can see whether they’re right by laying a “checkered tablecloth” over them both. Or they can pin a colorful rainbow disk to the page, spin it, and watch the colors “disappear.” Each illusion gets an entire spread, with instructions, extra illustrations, and sometimes sidebars, too.