How Long or How Wide?: A Measuring Guide

by Brian P. Cleary

Overview

Brian Cleary and Brian Gable bring their trademark sense of humor to the subject of measuring length. A rhyming text filled with funny examples explains how to use and compare metric and U.S. customary units of length. Readers are also introduced to the tools they need to measure length—rulers, metersticks, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580138444
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2009
Series:	Math Is CATegorical Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	86,902
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.10(d)
Lexile:	580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Brian P. Cleary is an American humorist, poet, and author. He is best known for his books written for grade-school children that explore grammar, math and poetry in humorous ways. In his role in the digital division of American Greetings, he's put words in the mouths of Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera, William Shatner, Meghan Trainor and more. The multi-million selling author has performed poetry workshops in 500 elementary schools across the county. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Brian Gable is the illustrator of many of the best-selling Words Are CATegorical® books, as well as the Math Is CATegorical® series. Mr. Gable lives in Toronto, Canada.

Editorial Reviews

"Introduce young readers to the concept of measurement with picture books and informational titles that go the distance.

Children love to size up the world around them. Although they are quick to figure out that a favorite toy ends at 10 on a ruler, they need guidance in learning what makes an inch, a foot, or a yard and how these units from our customary system compare to the metric system. This annotated bibliography offers not only books that introduce the concept of measurement and the need for standard measurements but also books about such innovative measurers as Eratosthenes, who measure the circumference of the Earth in the third century BCE, and Fannie Farmer, who invented modern recipes with exact measurements, as well as books that simply make measuring fun. A special sidebar, “Size Matters,” features books that allow children to observe size comparisons and realize the importance of measurement, from the smaller particles to the biggest dinosaurs.

. . .

Informational Books

How Long or How Wide? A Measuring Guide. By Brian P. Cleary. Illus. by Brian Gable. 2007. 32p. Millbrook, paper, $6.95 (9781580138444); lib. ed., $15.95 (9780822566946). 530.8. Gr. 1-4.

Similar to Cleary’s other Math Is CATegorical titles, bouncy thymes and jovial cartoon cats humorously introduce the concept of measuring length. The author begins with the inch, foot, and yard and relates them to the metric system’s millimeter, centimeter, decimeter, and meter. Concluding charts and size comparisons provide a good recap. The series also presents the concept of weight with On the Scale, a Weighty Tale (2008).
—Book Links

From the Publisher

This third in the Math is CATegorical series measures up quite nicely. Covering inches, feet, yards, millimeters, centimeters, decimeters and meters, Cleary's bouncy rhymes are a good beginning introduction to both the English and Metric systems, as well as the tools used to measure objects. "And see this-it's cool- / inches live on this tool. / It's a measuring stick called a ruler. / A 12-inch collection, / 1 foot of perfection, / the right size / for every grade-schooler." Rulers in paws, Gable's large-nosed cast of brightly colored quirky cats, mice and fleas measures objects large and small. His cartoons are entertaining and sure to gain children's attention. Although the measurements pictured are not always to scale, they logically build on the clear explanations found in the text, creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Save a centimeter of shelf space for this one. (Nonfiction. 5-10)

Kirkus Reviews