BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Jenkins, Steve. 2004. Actual Size. Houghton Mifflin: New York, NY. ISBN: 9780618375943

PLOT SUMMARY:

Displaying real life sizes of animals and insects across the pages of this colorful and informative book puts a new perspective on measurement for the reader. Author and illustrator, Steve Jenkins brings to life the animals he has chosen to measure. Included with each animal illustration is their approximate size and weight. Some of the facts are surprising, such as finding out the African elephant can weigh as much as 14,000 pounds. It is no wonder the author could only fit one enormous foot of the elephant across two pages.

By displaying the actual size of each animal, children can get a grasp on the difference in measurement between their own body size and weight and what they are seeing on the page. Most notable is the page with the gorilla hand opened up palm out, for the reader to measure their hand against. There is quite a remarkable difference in size.

The end of the book concludes with an appendix of all of the animals and insects included in the book. Each has a paragraph of interesting, fun facts including habitat.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

The illustrations are collages made from skillfully torn pieces of paper. The papers used appear to be handcrafted from many colorful hues and textures. Many of the illustrations are full-page spreads, accentuating how enormous some of these animals are.

Another clever technique that is fun for the reader is the one extended, fold out page that displays the profile of a crocodile, mouth open, and teeth, piercingly sharp. On the opposite spread is a fully extended Goliath frog from Africa.

The appendix at the end of the book includes further information on each animal and has a smaller illustration next to each description. This is a fun book for children, and will surely bring about much conversation on the topic of size and measurement.

2004 BCCB Blue Ribbon Award (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books)
2005 Beehive Book Award winner (formerly entitled Utah Children’s Book
Awards)

REVIEW EXCERPTS:

School Library Journal: “Mixing deceptive simplicity with absolute clarity, this beautiful book is an enticing way to introduce children to the glorious diversity of our natural world, or to illustrate to budding scientists the importance of comparison, measurement, observation, and record keeping.”

Starred Review Booklist: “Jenkins’ artwork is gorgeous (a gatefold of a frog in midleap is particularly memorable)… An unusual, unusually effective tool for connecting children to nature’s astonishing variety.”

CONNECTIONS:

• For other informational books by Steve Jenkins try:

Jenkins, Steve. Prehistoric Actual Size. ISBN: 9780618535781
Jenkins, Steve. Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest. ISBN: 0395899990
Jenkins, Steve. What Do You Do When Something Wants To Eat You? ISBN: 9780618152438

• For classroom activity, have students measure each other; convert the inches into centimeters.