Customer Reviews

Actual Size

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Just this past week I did a welcome-to-the-library introductory class for roughly fifteen hepped-up first graders. This was the first time I'd done such a class, so I was a little nervous about how to reach 'em. The last thing I wanted was to bomb in front of them. I needed a picture book that would really capture their attention. That would make them sit up and take notice. That would let them believe that the library is a cool and happening place full of wonderful fascinating books. So to what book did I turn in my moment of trial? Why to Steve Jenkins' fabulous, "Actual Size", of course. This has suddenly become my sure-fire go-to book. No child that encounters this puppy walks away without falling deeply in love with it. All that and it's chock full of useful scientific facts too.

The premise of "Actual Size" is canny. Using his customary illustration techniques of utilizing cut and torn paper, author/illustrator Steve Jenkins has created a book full of different kinds of animals. But unlike your average book that, say, summarizes the wingspan of the atlas moth, each illustration in this story is actual size. Which is to say, if the pygmy shrew is only two inches long, then the illustration of that shrew in this book will also be two inches long. This makes for some highly original displays. There's no way you could fit the entire giant squid into the book's pages. Therefore, one two-page spread is devoted entirely to the giant squid's eye (12 inches across and freaky freaky freaky). Other pages display an anteater's two-foot-long tongue (twisted about to fit in the necessary illustration). We get an up close and personal view of the four-inch jagged teeth of the great white shark. There are even huge insects (like the giant walking stick) and slimy critters (the monumentally disgusting 36-inch long Gippsland earthworm). Every page contains some brief facts and statistics about the creature being displayed, followed up by more in-depth material at the back of the book.

Needless to say, kids can't get enough of "Actual Size". The best reactions you can get are when you have the kids compare their tiny hands with the gigantic mit of the gorilla. When I showed my engrossed class this illustration they went gaga, clamoring to reach out and "touch" the great primate's palm. Children also get wrapped up in some of the book's lesser known facts. I took a great deal of delight in informing my captive audience that the Goliath frog eats birds and rats. And, of course, some of their reactions were surprising. When I showed the anteater page, hoping to wow them with the idea of a tongue that's two-feet-long, they were instead thrilled that the picture showed termites. Go figure.

If you're at all familiar with Jenkins' Caldecott honor winning, "What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?" then you know what to expect from him. Highly original cut paper pictures. We're not talking namby-pamby Eric Carle "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" type stuff. We're talking breathtaking how-do-you-convey-that-picture-with-cut-paper type images here. This book has a life entirely of its own. As with all Jenkins' creations, I was pleased to see bright and colorful pictures (the Siberian tiger, for example) next to pictures that required the smallest of details (like the pygmy mouse lemur). Best of all, Jenkins is constantly switching about the perspective in this book. One moment you're looking at an animal at a sideways angle, and the next minute you're facing down a tiger, head on (and the tiger doesn't seem to be particularly pleased with the interaction).

As you may have figured out, my welcome-to-the-library presentation was a smash hit, in no small part due to this wonderful book. I have high hopes that it may garner itself a heaping helpful of awards in the future. If you want an educational but highly amusing all at the same time picture book, "Actual Size" is a must-have. It's beautiful, smartly written, and a joy to thumb through. Few children can escape its charms.

Looking through this oversized (about 10.25 by 12.25 inches on the outside) picture book is an eye-popping, dazzling experience. Steve Jenkins shows a variety of animals and animal body parts at their actual size. This alone is a great idea for a children's book, but Jenkins takes it further. Like a movie director, Jenkins varies his "shots" for maximal effect, moving, for example, from am entire pygmy mouse on one page, to much a Siberian tiger's face on the following two-page spread. It's not only a visual contrast, but an emotional one too; the mouse looks out innocently at the reader, while the tiger does what tigers sometimes do: Growl! You can feel--and then measure--the intense 1-½ inch eyes, and the two 2 ¼ inch fangs.

Although most of the pictures take up two pages, Jenkins varies the animals, as well as how "close" they appear to the reader: HE begins with the largest butterfly (with a 12 inch wingspan), then contrasts this with a close-up of the eye of a giant squid. The WOW fact is just as big. In fact, it's so riveting that you might not see the smallish fish (the goby, 1/3 of an inch long) just opposite the butterfly. Termites are dwarfed by the two-foot tongue of their predator, the giant anteater. The picture consists of a 15-inch snout and a two-foot pink tongue, covered with four small termites. Here's a good question to ask your readers: How do you draw a two-foot tongue on a two-page spread that measures not quite 20 inches long? By making it curl around. The book is full of such opportunities for wide-eyed talk. A foot long spider (the "giant birdeater tarantula," with 12 inch legs, and a fantastic name) is followed by a three-page foldout of a crocodile. " What do they eat? People, among other things.

After a very brief introduction, Jenkins names each animal and notes the more amazing size facts: The great white shark (all you can see is the top of its enormous mouth) , for example, is 21 feet long, weighs 3 tons, and has 4-inch long teeth. Jenkins uses collages of torn paper and excellent coloring to portray realistic textures and evoke emotion. It's a masterful turn at graphic representation, and there's a refreshing lack of sentimentality in the pictures. The book's last four pages depict all of the animals in their entirety, with a more detailed description of size, habitat, diet, and anything else that is interesting or amazing. Kids and adults will enjoy the enormous-feeling pictures, the diverse perspectives, as well as animal facts geared at multiple age levels. Jenkins takes a winning concept to exciting new dimensions. Very highly recommended for the animal lover and the budding illustrator.

This book has artwork depicting the actual size of abnormally large and abnormally small animals. You get to get up close and personal with a 3/4-inch fish and the 12 inch eye of the giant squid (which can grow up to 50+ feet long!!) and everything in the book is depicted actual size. We used this book for a storytime and the young kids LOVED comparing their hands against the critters in the book. Best of all, one of my co-workers literally jumped about six feet from a seated position just from glancing at the picture of the 12-inch in diameter spider. The book is worth just that alone!! Highly recommended for kids to understand the scale of nature.

Steve Jenkins' Actual Size can be enjoyed as a work of art. The animals or, if a large animal, part of an animal is illustrated using handmade paper collage. What may sound like just a clever concept, when skillfully executed, resulted in an awesome book. Some of the animals shown are the pigmy shrew, atlas moth, dwarf goby, Goliath frog, and giant squid. The dimensions of the animal is noted and as well as a paragraph about such things as habitat and diet which makes this a very interesting book. Karen Woodworth-Roman, Children's Science Book Review

Between the paper-cut collage, the huge pages, the factual information done in a fun way and just the overall style of the book makes this one of my favorites I've reviewed so far. Children and adults will love to measure themselves up to the 3 foot giant gippsland earthworm and find out that the giant squid's eyeball is bigger than their head. There is even an open out middle page of the world's largest frog and a crocodile that can chew your arm off in one bite. Steve Jenkins, author and illustrator, did an amazing job with this book and I believe it is enjoyable for all ages.

I can't stop thinking about this book!
The artwork is amazing, and the critters are unbelievable!
As an adult, I'm fascinated with this book. As a teaching student, I know my kids will love it.
A must have!

In this book, actual size illustrations of different animals and different parts of animals can be found. Things such as an elephant's foot, sharks teeth and a tarantula can be found, all to scale of what size they are in real life. At the end of the book there is more information given about all the different animals that are present throughout the book. This book would be great for learning about animals as well as possible math concepts. Students would be able to compare their hands or other objects to actual size "models" of animals that they will most likely never come in contact with. This book could be very useful in the classroom.

Holy cow, do my kids love this book. We bought it for our 3 year old son, thinking it would be too simplistic for our 5 year old, but both kids are fascinated with the pictures and love to compare their own body parts to the animals featured in the book. For example, they like to put their hands on the gorilla hand, measure their heads against the eye of the giant squid, put their toes on the elephant's toes...it's just a lot of fun to read this book to them because they get so engaged in the contents. Highly, highly recommended.

This is a wonderful book for any classroom (Pre-school to Middle School). It's a great tool to motivate students to investigate on their own and explore other animal facts. Awards this book has won: 2005 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book; 2004 The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB) Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Award. (Many of Steve Jenkins' books have won several awards and honors.) He's on my "author watch" list.

My 6 year has a ton of books and takes out a ton of books out of the libary. As a result, his bar is pretty high for books that wow him. After I bought this book, he asked me to read it to him every day for 2 weeks and it's still a favorite!

Big and small are fascinating themes for him and this book has an innovative approach to this concept.

Additionally, the actual size challenge is fabulous. Kids are fascinating by giant squids and tiny insects etc. It's wonderful to see some element of their size depicted in true size on the page. Very creative approach.

Has also inspired my son to think about biodiversity since so many \extra large or extra small outliers of species are depicted.

Great book.