Curious Comparisons: A Life-Size Look at the World Around You

by Jorge Doneiger, Guido Chouela (Illustrator), David Sisso (Illustrator), Marcelo Setton (Illustrator)

Overview

Which weighs more, a pound of lead or a pound of feathers? How many ants does it take to steal a piece of cake? Life-size photos and a clever text explore concepts of size, measurement, time, and more.

Are you curious about numbers, size, and how something small stacks up to something big, like the number of grains of sand that fill a bucket? Using life-size photographs, engaging gatefolds, and witty asides, Jorge Doneiger beautifully demonstrates relative size, along with quantitative information that answers questions about all kinds of creatures and objects. If you unraveled all the thread from a T-shirt, how many times would that thread wrap around a city block? How many balloons could you fill with the air you breathe in one day? How many flowers must a hive of bees visit to collect enough pollen to make a pound of honey? Is it possible to measure time in colors? Back matter offers additional facts on the subjects for curious readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536200218
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	10/13/2020
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.30(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jorge Doneiger is an award-winning graphic designer who works as an art director for Diario Clarin, Argentina’s largest newspaper. Curious Comparisons is his first book for children. He lives in Buenos Aires.

Editorial Reviews

Humor ranges from whimsical (the observation that “time can be measured in colors” accompanies a changing lineup of deciduous leaves) to silly (a Saint Bernard’s owner is about to step into a one-pound “surprise gift”). Wry commentary adds to the fun while backmatter supplements all facts.
—Kirkus Reviews

Doneiger uses a combination of science, math, and humor to explore an often disparate collection of topics. The photography incorporates numerical facts that could be a jumping-off point to studying and practicing math. An accompanying section, “Life-Size Facts for the Very Curious,” provides more detailed information. Libraries with elementary students hungry for fact-based reading or looking for real-life math connections could use this book as an introductory text. Recommended.
—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

10/01/2020

Gr 1–4—Employing bright photography depicting life-size representations, this informational picture book introduces young readers to the concepts of size, measurement, time, and scale. Everyday objects such as candy and colored pencils are used to help readers visualize the math. The text favors short sentences, while bold, primary colors are seen on the mostly two-page spreads. Doneiger uses a combination of science, math, and humor to explore an often disparate collection of topics. The photography incorporates numerical facts that could be a jumping-off point to studying and practicing math. An accompanying section, "Life-Size Facts for the Very Curious," provides more detailed information. VERDICT Libraries with elementary students hungry for fact-based reading or looking for real-life math connections could use this book as an introductory text. Recommended.—Courtney Lewis, St. Catherine's School, Richmond, VA

School Library Journal

2020-05-03
Crisp, full-color photographs illustrate sparsely worded comparisons of randomly selected objects and ideas.

The opening page states: “Everything you will see in these pages is shown at its real-life size: it’s a life-size book.” The word “almost” should have begun the sentence, but most viewers will understand and forgive two long-distance shots. The first spread—as in most others—is not the simple size comparison implied by the cover art. A snail has moved across a piece of bright green graph paper, the text explaining that it took the snail two minutes to travel the 10-inch trail. (Most, but not all, English measurements are followed by metric equivalents.) It is left to readers to make comparisons of, for example, their own speed with a snail’s pace. In fact, most of the engaging photographs—often of animals—are used to highlight facts related to all kinds of measurements in our wide world. A vivid image of a hand squeezing an udder leads to a foldout showing some of the approximately 95 glasses of milk from a cow’s daily output. The number of grains in a sand pail is compared with several countries’ combined populations. Humor ranges from whimsical (the observation that “time can be measured in colors” accompanies a changing lineup of deciduous leaves) to silly (a Saint Bernard’s owner is about to step into a one-pound “surprise gift”). Wry commentary adds to the fun while backmatter supplements all facts.

Entertaining and quirky. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews