Times Fables: Learn your times tables in as little as a week [3rd Edition]

I cannot believe it really works. My 6 years old daughter remembers the stories (so the times tables) after reading them only one time! Amazing book.

My daughter is 8 and struggles with maths, especially learning times tables. She could only step count in 2s, 5s and 10s before getting this book. She remembers these stories so well, better than me, and now she knows most of her times tables from 1 to 10. We have only had the book for a couple of months. I cannot believe what a difference it has made! It has also shown her that she is smart, she just sometimes needs to learn in a different way.

Learning you times tables is not a cognitive task, it is simply a memory recall process. When you "know" your times tables you don't calculate the multiplications in your head, that would be too slow. You simply "know" them by retrieving them from memory. This book uses the popular and effective "Link and Story Method" memory technique to create an odd but memorable story about each multiplication and answer. Its amazing, I read it to my 7 year old son without explaining what it was all about. It took about 2 evenings to complete (part 1) and I took my time making sure to test him on remembering previous stories as I read him the next few. On the third evening I explained what the strange stories were about and how they related to numbers and times tables. He got it immediately and then simply knew all his times tables 3,4,6,7,8,9’s. Slow recall to begin with as he needed to remind himself of the story in his head but over the next few days and weeks it became second nature. The "Link and Story Method" memory technique is nothing new but in this scenario it seems like magic... fully buy into the technique and you can believe the 5 star reviews, this is an amazing book. I can only assume the reviewers describing the book as rubbish just didn't grasp what it was trying to achieve. Make it about stories first... then numbers after.

I was a bit sceptical at first, but this really does work. My 10yo daughter has always struggled with maths and times tables; her number-fact recall is really poor for her age. After reading this story only once she can instantly recall most of the stories and therefore answer most of the sums without counting on fingers or second-guessing herself. She is so pleased with herself she has asked to read it again today herself (being dyslexic and a reluctant reader, this is really encouraging). I am sure that after a few readings she will be able to recall her times tables with relative ease and confidence.

I have three children aged 6,8 and 9. Prior to this purchase my 6 year old could do her 10s, 5s and almost 2s properly. My 8 year old and 9 year old were good at 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 9s, 10s, 11s. The more difficult to work out quickly 6s, 7s, 8s were always tricky for them. My children are bright little buttons and I am an ex teacher (Maths if you would believe it) but always struggled with remembering my times tables when I was younger and getting them to do mental maths (Mathletics and Times Tables Rock Stars online as set by the school) has been a bit of a challenge recently through lockdown. I looked for maths workbooks and came across this on Amazon... I know im a visual learner so thought id give this a go, especially since it is only on the 3,4,6,7,8 and 9 times tables (the trickier ones)It arrived quickly in great condition and while none of my children were too enthusiastic to read it themselves, while my older two were outside I sat down with my little bookworm 6 year old. We read the first few pages and then went over them again. We read a few more pages and then went through them from the beginning again... we finally finished the last few pages and went through the whole book to see if she could remember them. In total spent about 20 minutes reading together.When my older two came in from outside I did them a maths quiz - 15 timed questions - and said they could have a chocolate button for every one they got right. They all tried their best. My 9 year old scored 11, my 8 year old scored 5 and my 6 year old experimental child who had never once answered any of these questions correctly before in her life got 14/15! Absolute Miracle. My older two - a bit put out that the littlest knew her times tables better than them spent a bit of time reading it with me and over the course of the next 4 days now they absolutely love showing off that they know all their times tables! Weve had video calls from their dad, grandad, aunty and nannie who have all quizzed them and been wow'd that they have learned them in such a short space of time. Now they love pop up maths quizzes... They havent got any wrong or forgotten any. Its the best money ive spent EVER.-The concept of the book is based on the fact that some people retain information better through visual aid... just like people memorising a deck of cards or a series of images... by making up stories about them.- Dr Sven is my favourite character 100%- My eldest and youngest love the fact they have an 8 year old sister for the squared numbers page for number 8...Massive thanks

My 7 year old is massively struggling with her times tables. This is a good idea for her as she can remember the stories. I’m a teacher so know the pitfalls involved in this - there’s little if any thought about linking the times tables so she won’t understand the link between 6X4 and 12x2 and 3x8. I’ve tried all the other methods to help her and this is a last resort to try and give her some confidence.The issue is that she got bored half way through and wasn’t bothered about some of the ‘fables’. She can remember some, definitely not all and not if we don’t read them often.It’s not the magic solution for us, but I can see how it could work with some children. I also think there’s a danger of teaching this too young - before you’ve tried other methods. As mentioned, because I’m a teacher, I do feel strongly that mathematics is something children need to put together in mathematical ways, otherwise they’re just memorising without the key concepts needed for maths success.Having said that, this is the only way for some children, my daughter probably included. She’s weak on so many of her times tables (2s, 5s too!) and I’m not sure she’s going to learn them anytime soon.So overall this is probably a bit of a gimmick but if it can give some children some confidence in math, that will lead to more learning. Every teacher knows that a confident child is much more willing to learn and that’s the biggest hurdle in teaching! Get them hooked and enjoying knowing the times tables and it will lead to other learning. Just don’t expect it to be the magic solution in a week!