Booklist (March 15, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 14))
Grades K-3. Magnus Maximus, an old gentleman in Victorian England, spends his days measuring and counting everything. His neighbors view him as simply “a marvelous measurer” until he encounters an escaped circus lion. He orders the lion to sit, measures his tale and whiskers, counts his fleas and heartbeats, and finally relinquishes the beast to his keeper. Magnus becomes increasingly obsessed with measuring and counting; after breaking his glasses, he cannot see to do so. A young boy leads him to enjoy the world without measuring its parts, a lesson that has a good, lasting effect. Handsome ink-and-watercolor illustrations portray Magnus Maximus and his neighbors with individuality and occasional wry humor. The period setting is convincing in every detail. While the story’s lesson may seem oddly placed in a picture book for children, there’s plenty for them to enjoy in this well-written original tale of a (literally and figuratively) shortsighted, elderly eccentric.
Grades K-3. Magnus Maximus, an old gentleman in Victorian England, spends his days measuring and counting everything. His neighbors view him as simply “a marvelous measurer” until he encounters an escaped circus lion. He orders the lion to sit, measures his tale and whiskers, counts his fleas and heartbeats, and finally relinquishes the beast to his keeper. Magnus becomes increasingly obsessed with measuring and counting; after breaking his glasses, he cannot see to do so. A young boy leads him to enjoy the world without measuring its parts, a lesson that has a good, lasting effect. Handsome ink-and-watercolor illustrations portray Magnus Maximus and his neighbors with individuality and occasional wry humor. The period setting is convincing in every detail. While the story’s lesson may seem oddly placed in a picture book for children, there’s plenty for them to enjoy in this well-written original tale of a (literally and figuratively) shortsighted, elderly eccentric.
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