Small Medium Large

by Emily Jenkins, Tomek Bogacki

How small is itty-bitty? How large is COLOSSAL? Where does medium fit in? Young readers will be introduced to these and other lively, colorful characters in the wonderful world of relative sizes, classification, and measurement. Small Medium Large is a super-sized adventure featuring Teeny-weeny, Enormous, and their other friends. Vibrant illustrations showcase the size creatures to bolster the fun in learning early math concepts.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Mathematics, Storytime

36 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2011

About the author

Emily Jenkins is the author of many books for children, including the recent picture books Tiger and Badger, illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay, and Princessland, illustrated by Yoko Tanaka. Her chapter books include the Toys series, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky; she is co-author of the Upside-down Magic series. Emily Jenkins lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, this all depends on the audience. Overall, I enjoyed the illustrations but missed a story to pull me through. I don't think the lesson will stick for young kids because it doesn't have enough of a context to make it work. But older kids, who get the concept, will benefit from the wide range of words used to describe these comparisons. This would be a good resource for writers' workshop for older kids (gr. 2-4) trying to develop their use of more descriptive vocabulary.

[Brandy Watkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This picture book captures concepts such as different sizes. It helps the reader understand the meaning of small, medium, and large and as well as how relative the terms can be. The book uses words to describe different-sized mice, although this was not a big issue, I thought it would be more useful for the book to include other objects, instead of mice. That way, the story could be seen from a more realistic point of view. To a child, all mice are small.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted more from Jenkins, but a serviceable title on relative size and synonyms for large and small.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book talks about and displays in colorful pictures the differences in sizes.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concept books like counting and alphabet books are a dime a dozen, and many seem worth about that, too. This book didn't fall into the trap of basic big-bigger-biggest and small-smaller-smallest that I was cynically expecting. Instead, it gives readers the three titular words and then gets to the meat of what kids really want to know: What's the word for something smaller than small? Is colossal bigger or smaller than huge? The vividly colored and patterned cast of mouse-dog-bowling pin creatures help readers carry the thread of each size from page as scale schanges to include larger and smaller sizes.

[Debra Lowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jenkins newest book is a play on sizes. From minuscule to colossal, Bogacki's colorful, adorable illustrations play on adjectives, particularly synonyms for big and small. This would be fun to use in a classroom when the children are getting ready to expand their writing to include descriptive words or a fun bedtime story when you have some time to play finding things of different sizes. Grades 1-3 simply because some of the words and their relative meanings are a bit complicated for very young children.

Digital copy courtesy of NetGalley and Star Bright Books, Inc.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of an advance copy:
The pictures are adorable, and you can't help but love a picture book that incorporates the words miniscule and colossal. Kids should enjoy learning these new words and will be amused at the stacks of smaller creatures trying to reach the height of the huge, enormous, or colossal creatures.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are lots of books about colors and shapes and ABCs and 123s but there aren't a lot of books about sizes. And this book doesn't just cover the small, medium, large sizes; it goes over what itsy-bitsy and colossal is. I think kids will really pour over this one and all the different sizes illustrated.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jenkins and Bogacki offer a range of sizes and words. From itty-bitty to colossal, readers can compare and contrast different sizes of creative critters. This is an excellent book for young readers to learn new descriptive words.

Theme: Tall
Additional Themes: math, heights

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Jennifer Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lively illustrations make this book about relative sizes a winner. The descriptions of sizes--from itty-bitty to colossals are spot on. A very cute book.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.

[Deana Pittman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very cute book mostly about synonyms for the word "big". Although the book is not really a "story," it does a great job illustrating the words like big, enormous, etc. There is a cute little "medium" size character that seemingly is left out, but finds a spot in the end.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

So matharific that it gets an extra star because there aren't that many high-quality mathy children's books.

I support independent bookstores. You can use this link to find one near you or order SMALL, MEDIUM, LARGE on IndieBound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/978159...

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book about relative sizes for kids who are beginning to learn those concepts. There are lots of fun characters and new words to learn. The pictures are great, and it would be a fun book for a read aloud.

[Relda Apperley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very rich in vocabulary! The print is perfect as it ranges from small to large as the descriptions of sizes change. I believe this book is perfect for any classroom. The illustrations are perfect, and leaves room for you to engage young children throughout the whole book.

[Marela Carmenaty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for children to learn their measurements. The illustrations are very colorful and lively. This book will easily captivate many young readers who are willing to learn different sizes. The book includes synonyms and antonyms. The sentences use comparison and descriptive words.

[Ravene Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how the font actually got bigger! This a perfect book, especially if you are discussing about how things are big and small. The illustration is so nice, it goes right alone with the vocabulary book. Perfect story for all the children!

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Math concepts, relative size and measurement, comparing objects, language arts, vocabulary, friendship and cooperation, working together, participation. A complete book, usable on any of this subjects.

[Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read that talks about different sizes. The fun text and illustrations provide information about each size that is shown. This would be the perfect book for teaching about adjectives that relate to size.

[ReadingWench · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute book for parents to read to their small child about different sizes. Nice illustrations and short sentences will keep your child involved in this book.

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute and well-done picture book that explains size. I love the illustrations.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vocabulary! All kinds of new words for different sizes, like HUGE and COLOSSAL and miniscule.

[Kim Miner Litton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book for a preschool science program as it shows relative sizes and introduces informal measurement. It's cute, it's bright, and it fits a unique niche

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is "just right" for a colorful exploration of relative sizes.

[Leo and Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

everything Emily Jenkins writes is just wonderful!

[Margaret Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book. It has great colorful illustrations, and it is a great way to teach children math. I would use this book in my math center.

[Beverley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a fun book for read aloud, it has great vocabulary words for different sizes, the pictures are great. Could be used for children who are beginning to learn relative size concepts.

[Debrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great storytime book about the comparative sizes of personable creatures.