Marlee the Mathematician provides young learners with engaging stories highlighting how mathematics is a natural part of their lives. Through reading educational picture and activity books, children and adults will be amazed at how much mathematics they engage with daily. Through relevant books, author readings, professional development sessions, and community engagement, Marlee the Mathematician will ignite a lifelong love of number sense, critical thinking, problem solving, and reading.
Dr. Marrielle Myers is an award-winning professor, international speaker, lover of stories, math girlie, and former public school teacher. During the day, Dr. Myers works with current and future elementary mathematics teachers to help them develop deep content knowledge, understand the role of creating culturally relevant mathematics spaces, and advocate for early math literacy by focusing on math talk, problem solving, and critical thinking skills.
Marrielle's stories are born from the intersection of her experiences as a young Black girl who loved mathematics but struggled to connect to reading due to a lack of relevant and representative texts. She blends her commitment to helping everyone see themselves as math people with her extensive mathematical expertise. By creating stories that demonstrate how Marlee, the main character in the series, engages with mathematics through her everyday experiences, Marrielle hopes all children can begin to see themselves as mathematicians.
When Marrielle doesn't have her professor, author, or consultant hat on, you can find her traveling the world, chasing sunrises and sunsets, shopping at farmers’ markets, enjoying Thai food, reading, and ballroom dancing. She currently resides in Atlanta, GA.
After years of hearing children and adults say they weren’t “math people,” Marrielle knew her purpose involved dispelling that myth by highlighting we are ALL math people. She began working closely with teachers and families to cultivate math talk in their homes and classrooms. That work led her to start the Marlee the Mathematician children's book series. Dr. Myers weaves her extensive knowledge of early mathematics content and stories from her childhood to create a series that centers mathematical thinking, representation, family, creativity, and joy. Each story in this series and future accompanying materials creates space for you and your learners to recognize and celebrate the powerful mathematics you do daily! Marrielle hopes that Marlee’s love for mathematics will spark your learners’ love and that they begin to see themselves as mathematicians too!