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Counting on Frank
A boy and his dog present amusing counting, size comparison, and mathematical facts.
32 pages, Paperback
First published October 28, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
April 25, 2019
Adorable boy and dog... not a little sweetheart, but a real boy. And yes, math is fun and rewarding! The activities in the back seem to be of a much lower order of thinking than Frank's boy is solving, though, so I'm not sure the audience.
July 19, 2012
This is a great book for estimation and volume, more for upper elementary. Before beginning the story, I would have students brainstorm what they already know about humpback whales. We would then come back together as a class and discuss what we know. I would then bring out more facts on the humpback whale that I would have already looked up. I would then ask the students, "By what we have learned, what size do you think a humpback whale is?" The students should explain how they came up with their estimations. I would then read aloud the book to the class, and then have students work in their small groups to answer questions. I will provide the students with questions such as, "How big is the boy's house?" or "since we know the size of a humpback whale, if 10 humpback whales fit into a house like Frank's, how many would fit into 3 houses like Frank's?" or "About how many humpback whales could fit in your school? Explain how you determined your answer." We would then come back together as a group to discuss our answers and our reasoning.
June 10, 2009
Great read-aloud, with a mathematics connection.
February 9, 2023
Probably not for everyone, but if you like to play with numbers, you will enjoy it. Fanciful illustrations and fanciful ideas about volume and ratios. How many dogs does it take to fill a room? How many humpback whales? If you grew as fast as a tree, how tall would you be now? How loud would a giant mosquito (4 million times bigger giant) be? (louder than a jet engine!) Two pages and seven additional questions to play with in the backmatter.
April 4, 2018
I chose this book because it is a fun easy book for kids and it is a math book which I love. I think it would be good for kids to read in groups and figure out the math problems. I like it because it was easy to read and a fun story.
August 2, 2020
Counting on Frank by Rod Clement is a story of a boy who is good at maths. He provides a range of imaginative ways to describe how many litres/kg/square metres are used in certain situations. A great story and also won "The Children's Book Council of Australia" award.
January 10, 2023
Deservedly a classic. Frank's owner uses a variety of unusual measuring units - including Frank - to calculate the size of objects in the world around him. His dad tells him ' If you've got a brain, then use it' and our hero's maths skills really pay off in the end.
March 3, 2020
I mean...Mrs. Showers read this in math today so I'm including it.
April 21, 2020
Possibly useful for an intro to Maths lesson
December 31, 2023
Just not a book that appealed to me.
February 11, 2025
Math book that covers a lot about scale. Good book for mathematical thinking.
March 25, 2017
Use in classroom:
-Sequencing
-compare/contrast
-prediction
-Sequencing
-compare/contrast
-prediction
October 19, 2013
I was first introduced to this book in college when I was taking a education course on teaching math in the elementary school...I still remember our professor reading it to us. He was going to read it then we were supposed to come up with other similar math problems we could use with our future students. The problem is that he started laughing so hard which in turn started all of us laughing that we never did the extra problems. Out of all of the children's books I have reread over the years, this one is still one of my favorites because of that professor.
This book is a great way to introduce students to the art of counting, size perception, and mathematical facts where you look at an object and guess how many it would take to fill a room or how big it would need to be if was the same size as something else. This is a fun way to help students experiment with math problems and they will remember this long after the story is over. There is even a section in the back where students can answer questions related to the story and then hold up the book to the mirror to see the answers.
My favorite page is when the boy guesses how many peas there would be if he didn't eat his peas for 18 years...that is a lot of peas. It would fill the floor and come up to the edge of the table. I also like the bathroom scene when he guesses how long it would take to fill up the bathroom with water...obviously something you don't want to try, but maybe you have thought about it.
My son is in 2nd grade and loves all things math so he wanted to read it when I was done looking at it this time around. Our school bought a new math series and our library is buying literature books to support that series...this is one I highly recommend to all schools. Any books that can teach student math while telling a story is high on my list of books to read more than once.
I dare you to read this to students and not starting laughing so much that you might start snorting...Enjoy!
This book is a great way to introduce students to the art of counting, size perception, and mathematical facts where you look at an object and guess how many it would take to fill a room or how big it would need to be if was the same size as something else. This is a fun way to help students experiment with math problems and they will remember this long after the story is over. There is even a section in the back where students can answer questions related to the story and then hold up the book to the mirror to see the answers.
My favorite page is when the boy guesses how many peas there would be if he didn't eat his peas for 18 years...that is a lot of peas. It would fill the floor and come up to the edge of the table. I also like the bathroom scene when he guesses how long it would take to fill up the bathroom with water...obviously something you don't want to try, but maybe you have thought about it.
My son is in 2nd grade and loves all things math so he wanted to read it when I was done looking at it this time around. Our school bought a new math series and our library is buying literature books to support that series...this is one I highly recommend to all schools. Any books that can teach student math while telling a story is high on my list of books to read more than once.
I dare you to read this to students and not starting laughing so much that you might start snorting...Enjoy!
July 19, 2012
One of the facts shared in the book Counting on Frank is that only ten humpback whales would fit
in the narrator’s house. I will have my students participate in an activity to determine the size of the narrator's house. I will provide an activity sheet to my student and ask them to calculate how large a box is needed to hold the average humpback whale. I will provide information on the typical length, width, and height of a humpback whale. They will need to provide the length, height, and width of the box. After estimating the size of the boy's house, I will encourage each group to describe the process they used to find the answer. We will discuss the information needed to determine the number of whales that would fit inside the house. Each group will complete the remainder of the activity sheet which will include the questions: About how much space would ten boxes fill?, About how big is the boy’s house?, and About how many humpback whales would fit in your school?. I will ask my students to explain how they determined their answers.
in the narrator’s house. I will have my students participate in an activity to determine the size of the narrator's house. I will provide an activity sheet to my student and ask them to calculate how large a box is needed to hold the average humpback whale. I will provide information on the typical length, width, and height of a humpback whale. They will need to provide the length, height, and width of the box. After estimating the size of the boy's house, I will encourage each group to describe the process they used to find the answer. We will discuss the information needed to determine the number of whales that would fit inside the house. Each group will complete the remainder of the activity sheet which will include the questions: About how much space would ten boxes fill?, About how big is the boy’s house?, and About how many humpback whales would fit in your school?. I will ask my students to explain how they determined their answers.
December 14, 2011
On first reading my very mathematical, strategic, inventive 8 year old kept looking at me side-ways. He didn't take to it - whereas I thought he'd love it. He got the counting, but found the examples a bit silly, for example: "Look mum, the bathroom door's open, so the water should be rushing out already!". He gave it 3-stars.
Looking back I think that the narrative could have been tighter and the examples a little more relatable. The dogs worked, the TV didn't, the tree worked but then the clothes didn't etc. Better as a discussion book either at home or class so you can expand on each page and measurement/estimation process used.
Looking back I think that the narrative could have been tighter and the examples a little more relatable. The dogs worked, the TV didn't, the tree worked but then the clothes didn't etc. Better as a discussion book either at home or class so you can expand on each page and measurement/estimation process used.
April 6, 2012
This book contains wonderful illustrations of a boy and his dog Frank. The boy, as he's referred to in the book, uses Frank as a unit of measure. The boy also calculates fascinating and interesting facts about peas (his least favorite vegetable), humpback whales, his father and the bathtub. It inspires readers to reconsider measurement and allows them to laugh at the same time. It is a wonderful book to teach students about interesting facts about numbers, calculation, and greater than or less than. This book will allow students from grades K-5 to learn about math while reading a silly story about the adventures of a boy and his dog.
November 21, 2012
This book is great for introducing measurement with a second grade class! I like that this book focuses on a boy who thinks about real life objects and how they can take up specific spaces. I think it's interesting how he thinks outside of the box. As an activity, you could have your students think about different spaces in their homes and what and how much of something they could use to fill it up. It would be interesting to see where their thinking was and that could help guide you as to where to want to start the measurement unit. Also, the objects they would use are considered non-standard which is apart of the standards for measurement!
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December 9, 2016This book is about a kid showing how he sees the world in numbers. He shows how to decide how many things could fit in objects and space. This is a cool book to help children understand what it looks like to find the mean, median and mode in spaces. This book would be a fun way to start off a math lesson. It will help them to see the fun and crazy illustrations and the applying of math to real world situations. I liked this book and thought it was a fun reading and even taught me some things I did not know.
April 14, 2012
I loved the images. The book is very creative and promotes estimation and advanced thinking. This book would be perfect for fourth graders. I am not quite sure exactly how factual the book is. I like heres how to use your brain in the back of the book. Great examples of measurements and lots of possible facts. I like how it includes the answer as well as the questions. This book could be a great way to evaluate students. This book would be great for any fourth grader.
April 20, 2012
This is a fun story that can be used with students in grades one through five. It can help students learn to use nonstandard measurement to measure things as well as estimate the length or size of different objects. You could do an activity with your students after reading this book by asking him to estimate the link or size of different things around the classroom using a nonstandard form of measurements such as jelly beans or pencil erasers.
July 21, 2012
This was one of my favorite books as a child. It is a cute story about a boy and his dog who think of everything as a math problem during his day. I could have the class calculate some of the problems and prove that his solutions are correct during math centers. Since these problems revolve around a little estimation, I could also create a lesson on estimation having students guess how many jelly beans are in a jar to tie into or introduce the book.
June 29, 2014
The Maths in this book is fantastic! It's playful, speculative, empowered and empowering! The book is a bit too complex and moves from concept to concept in a way that is hard to follow in early childhood (might be better in the Primary years).
Sometimes I like Clement's illustrations but this book- well some of them I just didn't like so much (i didn't hate them I was just meh).
My eleven year old loves the book and likes to reread it so....3 stars
Sometimes I like Clement's illustrations but this book- well some of them I just didn't like so much (i didn't hate them I was just meh).
My eleven year old loves the book and likes to reread it so....3 stars
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August 31, 2010When I first read this book I was captivated by the pictures. I think I spent more time looking at the details of the illustrations than anything else. This was also one of the first books that I read to my kids the spurred a math discussion. This is different than a lesson using the book. In our discussion we talked about numbers and in doing so understood the world at a deeper level.
September 16, 2011
This explores the option of math. It see how the boy relates math to his everyday life. Can use this to help students relate math to their every day life.
Use for morning math problems the questions in the back.
I could examine the mathematics on how he got his answers when making things bigger than they are.
Use for morning math problems the questions in the back.
I could examine the mathematics on how he got his answers when making things bigger than they are.
January 24, 2012
This is a great book to read before a math lesson. It can be used to kick off estimating, counting and measurements for grades 1-3. After reading I would have the students count and estimate objects in he classroom like the little boy did in the book or they could measure differnt things found in the classroom as well.
February 2, 2012
I like this book for a simple math lesson but that is about as far as it goes. The illustrations are fun and inventive but the book has somewhat simple math and unrealistic examples. It's okay for books to sometimes be unrealistic but when children are mentioning something about it maybe the book is not the right choice! Great for a simple math lesson not so great for older children.
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April 19, 2012Grade level: K-3
This book can be used to teach measurement.I love how Frank connects the quantities and measurements things that are common to students. I would use this book to teach children about estimations. There are also several word problems at the back of the book which students can work on.
This book can be used to teach measurement.I love how Frank connects the quantities and measurements things that are common to students. I would use this book to teach children about estimations. There are also several word problems at the back of the book which students can work on.
March 20, 2012
This is a great book to read to introduce numbers and math to children. Frank is actually the name of the dog in this book and his owner, who is unnamed, puts everything in terms of Frank or something else. Also great for counting! I would use this book to show children how math is all around us and to build positive attitudes about math.
February 27, 2012
This book has several examples dealing with measurements and size of objects. This book can be used for lessons on measurements. This book can be used for lessons on greater than or less than. The students can compare the size of several objects as a follow-up activity. This book can be used in Pre-K to 5 grade classrooms.
October 8, 2012
Mathematics are everywhere! Frank is a mathematician.. he sees math everywhere he looks! Where can we see math in our daily lives? What are some things we count/can count? How do you think he comes up with all of those facts?
A unit on quantity, a unit on scale, a unit on volume. How many ___ could we fit inside this square? our room?
A unit on quantity, a unit on scale, a unit on volume. How many ___ could we fit inside this square? our room?
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