New picture book · Two Toms in Brooklyn, Book 1

Turn a pile of leaves into math your kid wants to do.

Two best friends. A backyard buried in maple leaves. Forty minutes to clear it or miss the movie. Kids follow along as the Toms measure, plan and adjust, and every number in the story is one they can check themselves.

Buy the paperback Read it on Kindle

Teaching middle schoolers? Get the free 6-mission math challenge pack.

Full-color 8.5 × 8.5 in paperback
Kindle edition
Math + physics + teamwork
Challenges & answers included

Book cover: Tom, Tom & the Great Leaf-Raking Race, The Movie Mission, by Maria Bleahu

Tom H and Tom M celebrate with Cynthia next to a row of full leaf bags

Why this book works

Worksheets tell kids to solve problems. This story shows them why they'd want to.

A real deadline
The movie starts at 5:10. The Toms work backward from showtime to find their 40-minute raking window, the same way kids plan a real Saturday.
Math that's part of the plot
Area, division and rates aren't a quiz at the end. They're how the boys decide what to do next: 720 square feet, 8 sections, 18 square feet a minute.
Physics you can see
A gust scatters their pile. A ribbon on a stake shows which way the wind blows. Kids see force and friction change the job in front of them.

The mission

One yard. Eight sections. Forty minutes.

At 3:30 p.m., Tom H shows up ready for the movies. Then Cynthia points at the backyard. A giant maple has covered all 720 square feet in leaves, and it has to be raked before anyone goes anywhere.

So the boys do what good problem-solvers do. They split the yard into eight equal sections, give each one five minutes, and check their pace halfway through. When the wind starts undoing their work, they change the plan, not the goal.

720 ÷ 8 = 90 sq ft40 ÷ 8 = 5 min720 ÷ 40 = 18 sq ft/min

Rake the yard yourself

3:30

Tap a section to rake it. Each one is 90 sq ft and takes 5 min.Cleared: 0 of 720 sq ft

Look inside

Big illustrations, short scenes, and a learning note on every page.

Nineteen read-aloud scenes, each with one idea to notice: a clock check, a math note or a physics note.

Tom H, Tom M and Cynthia in a brownstone hallway — **Movie time!**“Not so fast, boys. The backyard needs to be raked first.”
Clock check

The boys sketch the yard as eight boxes at the kitchen table — **Eight little yards**Instead of one huge yard, they had eight smaller jobs.
Math note

The boys rake while an orange ribbon streams in the wind — **Which way is the air going?**The boys did not guess. They watched, then used what they saw.
Physics note

Tom M holds a clipboard showing three of eight sections done — **Right on rate**270 square feet in 15 minutes. Exactly their team target.
Math note

Illustrated scenes

A complete story with a beginning, a snag and a happy ending at the movie theater.

Challenge pages

Write-in problems that change one thing at a time, plus a “make your own yard” page.

Try-it experiment

A paper-leaf and hand-fan test to do with a grown-up, with answers to every challenge.

Try a page

Can your reader solve the Toms’ problem?

These three questions come straight from the story. If your child enjoys working them out, they’ll love the book.

Tom H and Tom M stand in the leaf-covered backyard, ready to start

Free PDF

Cover of the Leaf-Raking Math Challenge Pack

Mission 2 page: measure an L-shaped yard

Free for middle schoolers · Grades 6–8

Get the Leaf-Raking Math Challenge Pack

Six printable missions that take the Toms’ problem further, with a full answer key. Great for older siblings, math class or a rainy fall weekend.

Plan backward from showtime
Area of an L-shaped yard
Graph the team’s pace
Two rakers, two speeds
A real wind experiment
Design your own mission

Made for reading together

Who it’s for

Parents at bedtime

A story first. The math is there for kids who want to stop and check it, and easy to read straight through when they don’t.

Teachers & homeschoolers

One everyday problem, one main math question and one physics idea, with challenges and answers ready for a lesson.

Grandparents & gift-givers

A fall-season gift that ends in a real activity: grab a rake, split the yard into sections and race the clock together.

Meet the author

Maria Bleahu

Maria has been a media educator for almost 20 years, teaching students from 6 to 65. She writes stories that let kids discover big ideas through everyday moments, like a Saturday chore that turns into a race against the clock.

She is also the author of the Pip and Moss Adventures picture books and Saints in My Daily Walk.

Almost 20 years teaching
Students ages 6 to 65
Children’s book author

Leaf season is short. Read it tonight, rake together this weekend.

The leaves are falling now. Read the book, then head outside and let your kids split the yard into sections and beat the clock.

Buy the paperback Read it on Kindle

Questions

Before you buy

What formats is it available in?

A full-color 8.5 × 8.5 inch paperback and a Kindle ebook, both on Amazon.

Does my child need to be good at math?

No. The story reads straight through as an adventure. Each page has one short note to notice, and the math is simple division and multiplication that grows out of the plot.

Are the answers included?

Yes. The back of the book has two challenge pages, a full answer page and a simple physics experiment to try with a grown-up.

Is this part of a series?

Yes. This is the first Two Toms in Brooklyn story. Each one follows one everyday problem, one main math question and one physics idea.