From the Publisher
One man lifts a 50-pound girder. A forklift moves a 1-ton load. A wheelbarrow, a crane, a truck, a train all transport increasingly heavy objects as Taro Miura's deceptively simple book unfolds. Children will delight in the arresting images of workmen and their equipment. And as the weight increases so will their undertanding of how we measure it. A dramatic gatefold spread and a brief explanation of different systems of measurement complete the picture as this unique book makes learning about weight absolutely effortless.
Publishers Weekly
Through the use of few words and clean, crisp graphics, Miura introduces the topic of weight and measures for children. Each page features various transport devices that move massive objects, each weighing a set amount. As the story progresses, so does the heaviness of each object. Both the type size and corresponding images follow suit, equating large numbers with a commanding presence. While this correlation of text and illustrations works in tandem and delivers this message effectively, the book fails to engage readers and enliven their understanding of the subject matter. A detailed spread of the measuring system supplements the spreads; without this teaching guide, even astute readers may feel unequipped to answer youngsters' questions. Ages 2-up. (June) Fire! Fire! Said Mrs. McGuire Bill Martin Jr, illus. by Vladimir Radunsky. Harcourt, $16 (32p) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Children's Literature
Weights and measurements can be a hard thing to grasp, especially since different parts of the world use different standards. It takes a lot of practice to be able to determine how much something weighs by sight. Miura begins with an illustration of a man in a hardhat lifting a 50-pound brick and continues throughout showing men lifting increasingly heavy objects until they show a man with a forklift lifting one ton of bricks. The illustrations continue showing heavier objects being lifted or moved about, including a five-ton tree trunk; a ten-ton truck; twenty-ton, five-ton and ten-ton rail cars; and the last image shows the rail cars and truck loaded onto a container ship weighing 10,000 tons. Miura is a graphic designer and his illustrations in this book bear this out. The simple illustrations are reminiscent of plans and drawings used in construction schematics, though certainly more colorful.
School Library Journal
Gr 1-3-This concept book shows the different ways of moving or carrying heavy objects, using illustrations of construction beams and containers of varying weights. The cumulative increase of the weight of the objects and size of the machinery used to move them is well paced, going from a single construction worker carrying a 50-pound steel beam to a 10,000-ton tanker hauling all of the containers previously shown. The well-laid-out and clear color illustrations are on white backgrounds with large, black-type measurements labeling the weight of each object. Sharp readers, however, will question the numbers listed on the containers of the freight train as that of the pound weight of the contents (20,000 pounds incorrectly labeled as 20 tons, 5,000 pounds incorrectly labeled as 5 tons) contradicting the previous definition. An explanation of the different measuring systems for weight, standard and metric, is included. For a more thorough explanation of measurement for young children look to David M. Schwartz's Millions to Measure (HarperCollins, 2003).-Kristine M. Casper, Huntington Public Library, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Industrial workers variously lift, push, hoist and pull girders, cement, bricks and other material from 50 pounds to one ton, and beyond, in a graphically simple illustration of relative weight. With one simple black horizontal forming a continuous base, the workers and materials operate atop this line against an all-white background; the clean, simple shapes of the figures are echoed by the stencil-like typeface, which grows in size as the weight moved increases, page by page. The text is as minimalist as the illustrations, indicating the poundage but nothing else. The simplicity of presentation is reminiscent of Donald Crews, and a six-page sequence of railroad cars ("20 ton 5 ton 10 ton . . . ") is a highly pleasing homage. This leads to a double-gatefold of a 10,000-ton container ship (mystifyingly labeled "World Tanker") in a restrained celebration of sheer weight. A significantly wordier coda goes into some depth on the difference between English and metric measurements and provides the metric equivalents of all the weights depicted. Altogether, it nicely gives some realistic context to the phrase, "This weighs a ton!" (Picture book. 3-7)
loading...