Some children read in words. Some children see in colors. But, little Sadie Mae's mind worked different from all the others. Sadie Mae saw in numbers.

There were numbers everywhere she looked. There were numbers in the sky. The clouds were shaped liked sideways 8's. Though, no one else saw the 8's.

When she visited the pond, the swans looked liked 2's flying through the sky. The butterflies looked like tiny 3's fluttering by. Everyone else thought she was wild. They couldn't see the shapes like she did.

At the park, the volleyball net was filled with tiny little 7's all in a row. The balls all looked liked 0's being bounced up and down. Even the hot air balloon looked like a floating 9 that was being stretched out as it became more round. This made it very confusing for Sadie.

In the classroom, her pencils looked like 1's. Her teacher's writing looked like a jumble of numbers mixed together. She could not understand any reading or writing. But, she loved math and all the equations she could create.

When she would be called on to read, she would just freeze. The other students began making fun of her, but to Sadie, even these names seemed like a blur. She didn't know her classmates names. She wasn't even sure how to write her own.

Her teacher, Mrs. Turner, realized that Sadie Mae learned in a very special way. Sadie sees the shape and makes a number out of what she sees. Mrs. Turner knew she had to do something for Sadie or she would continue to fall behind. So, Mrs. Turner made Sadie feel very special.

Mrs. Turner gave Sadie Mae a very special classroom task. She told Sadie if she could make a math problem for every object in the room, then Mrs. Turner would help Sadie learn how to read. Mrs. Turner knew Sadie would be all for this because Sadie loved numbers. Sadie's eyes became full of excitement.