From the Publisher
Lisa has an important homework assignment--to measure something in several different ways. She has to use standard units like inches and nonstandard units like paper clips to find out height, width, length, weight, volume, temperature, and time. Lisa decides to measure her dog, Penny, and finds out ...
Penny's nose = 1 inch long
Penny's tail = 1 dog biscuit long
Penny's paw print = 3 centimeters wide
... and that's only the beginning! Lisa learns a lot about her dog and about measuring, and even has fun doing it.
This clear and engaging concept book, delivered with a sense of humor, is certain to win over the most reluctant mathematician.
Children's Literature
When Lisa's teacher, Mr. Jayson, gives a homework assignment to measure something in as many ways as possible, he couldn't have imagined the many ways Lisa discovers to measure her dog, Penny. In addition to using standard units of measure (height, width, length, weight, temperature and volume) which Mr. Jayson has listed on the blackboard, Lisa finds out how long Penny's nose is in dog biscuits, and how many cotton swabs, laid end-on-end, span the length of Penny's ear. She measures Penny's weight in relation to her canine friends, using a seesaw "scale" in the playground. She finds out how many seconds it takes Penny to dash from her dog bed to her feeding bowl at breakfast, and how many minutes per day she spends brushing Penny's fur. These measurements, and a wealth of other interesting data, are recorded in Lisa's charts, which are nicely incorporated into the illustrations. The quirky, but extremely expressive and joyful artwork gives this hardcover book a distinctive look. By any measure, Lisa and Penny make learning math concepts fun!
School Library Journal
Gr 2-4Leedy offers another winning math-concept book. Lisa has a homework assignment to measure something in as many ways as she can, using standard and nonstandard units. "Use your imagination!" is the last instruction the teacher gives the students. Lisa chooses her Boston terrier and the fun begins. She measures Penny and a variety of other dogs. In the process, readers learn that Penny's nose is one inch long. Her tail is one biscuit long. She is bigger than a pug, smaller than a cocker spaniel, and weighs about the same as a Shetland Sheepdog. Lisa measures how much her pet eats, how high she jumps, how much time it takes to care for her, how much money is invested in her, how fast Penny runs, and a variety of other doggie traits. The results are shared with readers through charts, graphs, and reports. Large, uncluttered earth-toned pastel acrylics create a pleasing look in this clever concept book. Readers have the opportunity to learn about measuring as well as glean a lot of information about keeping a canine. A great introduction to the subject, and one that tells a good story, too.Jane Claes, T. J. Lee Elementary School, Irving, TX
Horn Book Magazine
Since when has homework been fun? Since Mr. Jayson assigns Lisa's class a measuring project: "1) Choose something to measure. 2) Measure it as many ways as you can: height, width, length, weight, volume, temperature, time. 3) Record your results...USE YOUR IMAGINATION." Lisa decides to measure her dog, Penny, and a cast of other dogs they meet up with at the park. Noses, tails, ears, paws-nothing escapes Lisa's measuring zeal, which she indulges in a frenzy of units ranging from inches to cotton swabs to dog biscuits to...herself (she measures how high Penny can jump up on her). She measures volume by recording how much water Penny drinks and how many units (cups, tablespoons, teaspoons) of each ingredient are used to make "Doggie Delights." Time, temperature, cost, and even value are creatively calculated throughout a day spent caring for Penny. Leedy cleverly incorporates the assignment-an instructive outline on the classroom chalkboard-and Lisa's notebook recordings into the illustrations, which depict a wide range of shapes and sizes for easy visual comparison. Anyone measuring Lisa, however, may notice that she stands barely taller than a three-foot-tall greyhound, rendering her the height of a three- or four-year-old rather than the seven- or eight-year-old this assignment suggests. Never mind-most youngsters will take this over regular homework any day.
Kirkus Reviews
A terrific pedagogical idea from Leedy (Mission: Addition, 1997, etc.) that offers instruction and no small dose of delight. Lisa's teacher assigns the middle graders to measure something both in standard units, e.g., inches and teaspoons, and in nonstandard units, e.g., in pencils or toes. Lisa measures her Boston terrier, Penny, discovering that Penny's ear is one cotton swab long (a basset hound's is three), and that she can jump as high as Lisa's waist. Other measurements are given in dog biscuits, centimeters, and the time it takes, for example, to walk Penny or to see her dash from her bed to her dish (six seconds). The illustrations, done in a primitive style with acrylics, offer solid figures and recognizable dog breeds; the design is carefully thought out and very clear. Readers will be inspired to measure their own pets; it will be up to their pets, of course, to cooperate. (Picture book. 6-9)
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