How long or how wide? A measuring guide

K-Gr 2-Written in rhyme, this book introduces children to the English Length Measurements and Metric Length Measurements. "It's really quite wise/when you're measuring size/to know more than/only one system." Colorful cartoonlike cats, mice, and other animals present the measurements, using examples such as a desk, door, headboard, and dime. Length, height, and width in inches, feet, and yards, and how to compare them, are explained. Millimeters, centimeters, decimeters, and meters are discussed and then compared to inches, feet, and yards. Unfortunately, the unusual font might be difficult for some students to read. The same concepts appear in Henry Arthur Pluckrose's Length (Children's Press, 1995), which has color photographs and a more traditional typeface. An additional purchase for teachers who want to combine language arts and mathematics.-Ann Joslin, Fort LeBoef School District, Waterford, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.