One Saturday at the beach, Laura, Juan, and Sarah decide to have a sand castle contest. As the tide rises, the towers get taller and the moats get deeper. The friends measure their sand castles with spoons, shovels, and bare feet until Larry the lifeguard and his tape measure surprise them all.

Reviews

Gr 1-3-Under Larry the Lifeguard's watchful eye, three friends compete to see who can build the tallest sand castle, the deepest moat, and the longest wall. When they start to measure the results, trouble begins because each contestant uses a different nonstandard unit of measurement. Sarah's tower is three shovels tall; Juan's is only two shovels tall, but Sarah's shovel is much smaller than Juan's. And voil…-the concept of measurement is aptly and creatively presented. Murphy does a good job of imparting the math lesson while delivering a natural story. Gorton's stylized airbrushed acrylics add a whimsical touch. The multiethnic cast frolics on the beach with energy. The illustrations clearly show the comparisons while the children are measuring and complete the picture of how a moat that's two spoons deep could be more shallow than the moat that is one spoon deep. Pair this with Loreen Leedy's Measuring Penny (Holt, 1998) for a complete picture of measurement and comparison. And remember Larry's advice, "Spoons and shovels and people's feet can all be different sizes,...but an inch is always an inch."-Jane Claes, T. J. Lee Elementary School, Irving, TX Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.