Customer Reviews

It's Probably Penny

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

 

 

This Loreen Leedy educational book reviews linguistic/mathematical applications of probability, as explored by young Lisa using her dog Penny as the object of several "thought experiments." It's packed with information; so dense, in fact, that adult readers may want to omit some pages with younger audiences. However, Leedy's humorous characterizatrion of school, Lisa's teacher, and especially that cute black dog balance the relatively high cognitive load, rendering a very entertaining book that edges out most of the math-oriented competition.

WE begin with Lisa's teacher, Mr. Jayson, who teaches Lisa and her classmates the differene between things that possibly, might, and will occur. THe kids write down what Mr. Jayson might wear that day, and hefools them all with hat that looks like a sea cucumber with orange toes, and two suspended eyeballs! "'I don't usually wear hats,' he says. But as you can see, it is possible.'" He moves on to picking different-colored jelly beans while closing his eyes, showing how the pool of jelly beans from which he chooses affects whether he will, might, or can't select a certain color (and, luckily for him, eating a lot of jelly beans while doing so!) There's a nice realism here as well: One student asks: "Why are we doing all this?" "It's for homework," the teacher replies. "We all groan. But he lets us eat the rest of the jelly beans, so that helps." That's good, because they have a monstrously long assignment: Examples of things that will, might, and can't happen, tiny chance vs. impossible, and equal vs. unequal chances of ouccuring.

Fortunately, Lisa's dog (someday as famous as Schoedinger's cat?)helps her answer all those questions. Although the "will" example is a little shakey ("I'm sure Penny will want to go on a walk."), and has more to do with hypothesis testing, "might" is convincing (Penny might see a squirrel on their walk), "can't" is funny ("We can't see a shark because the ocena is 50 miles away.") Later when Penny sees a toy shark--the book is full of sly surprises--Lisa says that doesn't count! LIsa also makes notes to help her decide whether there's a tiny chance of Penny eating an entire birthday cake, finding a pirate treasure chest, or becoming a famous canine actor, or whther these things are impossible. This is a great departure for classroom or group discussion. Perhaps mindful of recent history, Lisa defends at great lengths her decision that a Penny Presidency would be impossible.

There are even more examples of equal and unequal probabilities, and these require a bit of mathematical/logical reasoning that may be too advanced for youngers. However, Leedy offers a wide range of kids the opportunity to compare event probabilities, and to see how concepts like might, can, and will occur with some frequency in daily life. COmbine that with creatively formatted (bordering on manga presentations), brightly colored picturs, and lots of tangential but humorous background about Lisa's family and Penny, and your youngster will probably enjoy this book. There's no getting around the fact that hte book is teaching one about math, counting, logic, and language, but the humorous, casual narrative, and Leedy's involvement of the reader in Lisa's problem immeasurably increase its appeal.

This book tells and shows kids the concept of probability, and it repeats the information in different ways so it doesn't become tedious. Jelly beans, dinner menus, blind choices, making predictions. Lisa, the main character, interacts with her dog, and the illustrations are informative but still goofy enough to hold the interest of your little learner.

Most of all, this book is FUN.

Note to publishers: We want more high quality, informative books like this, please.

Loreen Leedy, known for her picture books with a classroom lesson has done it again. Many of her books are to advanced for my tots but this one was a favorite and often requested again. It teaches the probablity and improbability of things that could happen in your day as it begins with the students circling their teacher who announces a homework assignment on the topic. He explains the game of probability with jelly beans, separating by colors and asking what the chances are he'd get color A, B, or C from each pile. It really is a fun read teaching some important principles. And just fyi, "Penny" is the dog who belongs to the student girl narrating the story. Penny helps her with her assignment at home.