Starred Review ALA Booklist (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1998)

Starred Review With several successful informational picture books already to her credit, including Mission Addition and Postcards from Pluto (1993), Leedy turns her attention to a subject children frequently have difficulty understanding: measurement. In this creative introduction, she takes a look at various kinds of measurement (height, weight, volume, even time and temperature) and units of measure, presenting them as part of a scenario in which a young girl, Lisa, uses her dog, Penny, to help her complete her measuring assignment for class. Crisp, carefully captioned pictures, including many easy-to-grasp visual comparisons, spread across large-size pages, making the book easy to use with a small group. Leedy goes into the most detail about height and length, demonstrating, in the illustrations and through a chart, the relationship between inches, feet, and yards. She's more general with other measures, sticking largely to introducing units of measurement (for example, tablespoon, teaspoon, second, minute), and leaving the rest up to grown-ups to explain. One of the best parts of the book is her treatment of nonstandard units, which is both fun and informative: Penny's tail is one dog biscuit long, but it takes 10 biscuits to measure the tail of a greyhound. Leedy also introduces children to the more abstract concept of value: We decided Penny is kind of expensive . . . but she's worth it, which adults can explain further in follow-up discussions. The book is perfect for classroom use, but it's also not much of a stretch to imagine children at home whipping out measuring devices and cornering their pets. (Reviewed April 1, 1998)

Horn Book (Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 1998)

For a measuring project, Lisa decides to measure her dog, Penny, and a cast of other dogs at the park. Noses, tails, ears, paws--nothing escapes her measuring zeal. Also, time, temperature, cost, and even value are creatively calculated throughout a day spent caring for Penny. Leedy cleverly incorporates Lisa's notebook recordings into the illustrations, which depict a wide range of shapes and sizes for easy visual comparison.

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)

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4--Leedy 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