Customer Reviews

Inch by Inch

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Caldecott Honor Book is easy listening for the early child and the young child as a new schoolyear begins. An industrious inch worm is the main character. He engages himself with measuring a variety of birds and lastly outwits the hungry nightingale using his measuring savvy.

Teacher Note: This book can be used to introduce the young child to using standard measurement tools. It can also be used for activities with creative non-traditional measurement activities. For example: Paper clips, hands, feet, craft sticks, shoes, beans, etc. This book can be a springboard to a thematic unit on measurement. It can be extended for study of birds, other nature studies, art experiences, and musical activities as well.

Once upon a time there was a cute, little, green inch worm hanging out on a piece of grass. One day, a robin came up to eat him, but the inch worm talked the robin into letting him measure the robin's tail. Being such a useful worm, the robin did not eat him, but took him to other birds so that they could have something measured by the smart inch worm. Finally, a nightingale told the worm to measure his song or he would eat the little inch worm. Using his little worm brain, the inch worm began measuring the song until he had inched away to safety.
This wonderful book, written and illustrated by Leo Lionni, won the Caldecott Honor in 1961. He has taken a little worm and made the reader fall in love with it through the worm's usefulness in measuring and his cunning ability to escape the hungry nightingale. Even though there are many different scenes, with many various shades of green on them, Lionni has illustrated the little worm in such a way that the reader can always point him out. Children would enjoy finding the worm on each page, especially at the end of the book when he is hiding from the nightingale. Also, we always see the story from an outside perspective; eye level with the grass. It is as if we are another small animal looking in on the story.
The background of each page is pretty much the same. All Lionni has illustrated on each page is the worm and the other details that are needed during that part of the story. For example, while the inch worm is measuring the legs of the heron, Lionni has only portrayed the heron with the worm inching down its leg. I think this technique is good for younger audiences because it helps children focus on the story and keeps their attention for more specific details. This also makes sense because there is a small portion of text to read on each page which means the audience does not have much time to look at the illustrations while the reader is reading to them. As for colors, Lionni has kept them realistic. For example, the flamingo is a bright pink whereas the nightingale's colors are calmer. Overall, the colors in the book make the readers feel at ease and calm. The dull greens of the grass and the open, white background keeps the reader moving along at a steady pace. It's almost as if we know that the inch worm is going to outsmart the different birds and there is no need to get over-excited.
Lionni has intertwined the illustrations and the text in a way that they are dependent on each other. Although you could get the gist of the story by either reading the text or looking at the pictures, by having the illustrations support the text, the reader gets a more detailed, visual story. However, Lionni leaves room for the imagination to add on to the story at any time.
Overall, I loved this book. Lionni has creatively illustrated this cute story, making children and adults want to read it over and over again.
If you are looking for instructional ideas, I would read this story to students in primary grades before doing a lesson on measuring. Then I would have students measure different things around the classroom including themselves. I would also use this book when talking about different types of art. I would have children do a collage or make something with decoupage. They could even re-create a scene from the book!

One of my favorite 5 bookes was Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni. The reason is, is that the worm in the story is very clever and thinks his way out of a sticky situation. That is what I like about authors like Leo Lionni. They can always come up with a great little story that influences so many children in such a positive way.

This is the story of one very smart little inchworm. As the story begins, he is about to be an addition to a robin's meal as the robin is hungry and the little inch was quite available. But unfortunately for the robin, this was one fast thinking little worm and he convinces the robin that he is a very useful creature. He offers to measure the robin's tail. Of course the robin is quite impressed (he found that his tail was five inches long, which pleased him greatly) so he takes the little worm to the other birds.

And so the measuring begins; a flamingo's neck, a toucan's beak, legs of a heron and a pheasant's tail. This goes on until the nightingale arrives and demands that his song be measured or he will eat the little inchworm. Is disaster about to befall the little green guy? How on earth do you measure a nightingale's song? Is our little measuring worm about to become a meal and is there no escape?

Well folks, you have to remember that this little worm is a bright little worm and his thinking ability under pressure certainly surpasses mine! All ends well, but you will have to read the story of how the singing bird was outwitted.

Of course this Caldecott award wining author has not slacked off on this illustrations one bit. They are as colorful, as original and playful as any of his other work. The combination of Lionni's words, story telling skills, ability to simplify the complex and his beautiful art work are truly amazing. I am not sure how he was able to sustain his high quality output over the years, but he certainly pulled it off.

This little work is ideal for the classroom or personal library. There are so many lessons to be learned here...thinking fast not being the least. Measuring, counting activities, nature studies, art...really, what you can accomplish as to teaching with this little work is only limited by your personal experiences and imagination.

I will admit to being rather delighted with anything to do with inchworms. I spent hours as a child seeking them out at watching them inch their way through their small part of the world. I have to admit that as a old man now, I seldom pass one by without stopping to watch which has made me late for quite a number of lunches and appointments over the years...which you can tell really worries me.

Recommend this one highly for the little ones. It is a pure joy to read it to them and the delight in the colors and in many cases, trying to find the little inchworm.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Leo Lionni has a sensitive heart to catch tiny creature's world for the readers to see and in INCH BY INCH, the seemingly vulnerable inchworm has relied on his usefulness and intellects to beat the odds of his own survival game. Delightful and surprising as usual, the story starts when the inchworm is about to be gobbled up by the robin. As in Aesop's Fable (THE LION & THE MOUSE), the smart prey persuades powerfully to the predator why it would be a mistake to eat him, "I am an inchworm. I am useful. I measure things." Curiosity comes to the robin's eyes, and after the inchworm measures his tail to be five inches long, the impressed robin spares his life. Put the inchworm's talent into good use, the robin takes him to measure many other things - flamingo neck, toucan's beak, the heron leg and the whole hummingbird. In the end, another crisis strikes that a nightingale also asks the inchworm to measure the immeasurable - his beautiful song. The nightingale may have a great voice but not much of a brain and the inchworm agrees to measure, inch by inch until ....the peril is behind him. An applaud for the inchworm and this remarkable book; though the hero is small (Where is the worm? The kids will look for the emerald inchworm on every page), his adventure is great.

My daughter brought this home from school.

It's a cute little story about an inch worm who gets out of being eaten by offering to measure stuff for the birds. He measures tails, a bill, a neck, legs, and even a hummingbird.

It works until a nightingale asks to have his song measured. What to do?

The art work is good and my daughter did look it over.

At first she was so-so to the story as she didn't understand how the inchworm measured. I showed her with my finger and she laughed.

Others have suggested this might be a tool to introduce the concept of measurement. I can see that but my daughter already had an idea from the age old method of marking her growth height on the wall.

Fabulous book and art work. You just will love any book by Leo Lionni. He was one the great writers of our time.

Read this book with them when they are young; it gives you such a great reference point for encouraging your child when they get older -- how to turn a weakness into a strength, how to turn an adversary into an ally, how to outmanuever an opponent.

Great story.

I purchased several titles from Lionni based on a study I discovered about his books at the University of Chicago. My 3 year-old daughter loves them and talks about them frequently.

A children's book about an inch worm who loves to measure things and then saves himself by measuring. The book was the 1961 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., the runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustration in a book for children.