Living Color [Hardcover]

Steve Jenkins (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, pink—animals can be startlingly colorful. Why are they found in so many shades, tints, and hues? From the scarlet ibis to the blue-tongued skink, award-winning author/illustrator Steve Jenkins depicts a whole world of colorful animals in his signature style. Living Color explores a range of animals from old favorites like the pink flamingo to rare and fascinating creatures such as the long-wattled umbrella bird and the ringed caecilian. How do the brilliant feathers, scales,shells, and skin of these animals help them survive? Find out in this strikingly beautiful book how animals use color to warn predators, signal friends, attract a mate, or hide from their enemies.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* It's difficult to imagine a science topic better suited to picture-book form than this one, which offers a pageant of the most stunning, vividly hued creatures on the planet. For children somewhat older than Jenkins' usual readership, this book opens by explaining that bright coloration goes beyond mere decoration: "If an animal is very colorful, it is likely that its brilliant skin, scales or feathers somehow help it stay alive." Arranged by color, subsequent spreads feature a rainbow of animals rendered in Jenkins' celebrated cut-paper style. Each picture is accompanied by a paragraph of nicely distilled information, most effective when it specifically links color to survival tactics such as camouflage, mating, or the repulsion of predators. An accessible afterword explaining more about coloration is followed by a pictorial appendix that includes approximate sizes for the book's 66 creatures (the preceding depictions are not to scale, allowing Jenkins to lavish full attention on even the fingernail-size pygmy seahorse). From the pink fairy armadillo to the purple deep-sea dragonfish, readers will be fascinated by the panoply of critters that often seem the stuff of fairy lore, and educators will applaud the clever concept of presenting survival adaptations as a biological fashion show. Mattson, Jennifer

Review

"The phraseology is immediate and inviting...filled with lively, digestible tidbits...This will easily lure browsers in a range of ages..." The Bulletin 9/2007

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Jenkins once again astounds...the combination of easy-to-understand language and gorgeous illustrations makes this a prime choice for any young animal enthusiast's collection."--PW Starred, 7/16/07 Publishers Weekly, Starred

"Another amazing work by a master illustrator." SLJ Starred 10/2007 School Library Journal, Starred

It's difficult to imagine a science topic better suited to picture-book form than this one, which offers a pageant of the most stunning, vividly hued creatures on the planet. ...From the pink fairy armadillo to the purple deep-sea dragonfish, readers will be fascinated by the panoply of critters that often seem the stuff of fairy lore, and educators will applaud the clever concept of presenting survivaladaptations as a biological fashion show.
Booklist, ALA

Color becomes the organizing factor in this new exploration of the quirks of the animal world. Jenkins’s design, always striking, reaches the heights of inspiration with this offering... guaranteed to be a browser’s delight Kirkus Reviews

The book’s real highlight, though, is Jenkins’s cut-paper collage: his animals are dazzling -- vibrantly colored and detailed. For each of the featured animals, further information -- size, habitat, and diet, among other facts -- is provided in the end matter. There Jenkins also answers questions like “How is animal color created?” That’s a godsend, because it’s definitely the sort of thing curious young readers will ask" Horn Book

"The illustrations are done in Jenkins' signature medium...richly colored and brilliantly designed. This is a grow-with-me book." Tampa Tribune 11/18/07 Tampa Tribune

"Jenkins blends his trademark collage illustrations with snappy facts." The Washington Post 12/08/07 The Washington Post

"A terrific book for elementary schoolers." Providence Journal 12/11/07 Providence Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; None edition (September 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618708979
• ISBN-13: 978-0618708970
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #967,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steve Jenkins has written and illustrated nearly twenty picture books for young readers, including the Caldecott Honor-winning What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? His books have been called stunning, eyepopping, inventive, gorgeous, masterful, extraordinary, playful, irresistible, compelling, engaging, accessible, glorious, and informative. He lives in Colorado with his wife and frequent collaborator, Robin Page, and their children. To learn more about Steve and his books, visit www.stevejenkinsbooks.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mommy, why is that frog red?, September 10, 2007

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Living Color (Hardcover)

A cool natural history book, geared for slightly older kids... Jenkins groups wildly different animals by color -- blue dart frogs along with hyacinth macaws and blue-tailed skinks, etc. -- and explains how each animal uses their distinctive coloring as an adaptive or defensive trait. There's a lot of tooth-and-claw action here: most of this stuff has to do either with killing prey, avoiding being eaten, or finding a mate. There's also a lot of text -- each of the dozens of animals being profiled gets a little explanatory paragraph next to their picture. The artwork is beautiful (if you like this book, you might also want to check out Jenkins' earlier work, "Biggest, Strongest, Fastest") and there's tons of great zoological information. Just the thing for a budding naturalist to pore over for years to come. (ReadThatAgain!)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Read, April 14, 2008

By 

Travis Olson (Riverside, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Living Color (Hardcover)

I first saw this book at the library. I picked it up and was immediately struck. This book is beautiful. Going through various colors, Steve Jenkins, illustrates and describes animals that are that color. The illustrations made me take notice, but within minutes I found myself reading the entries, one after another. The book is a great read and introduced me to many animals that I was unaware of, and it did so in a fun way that most children can appreciate.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Colors, February 22, 2009

By 

A. Tarmy (Germantown MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Living Color (Hardcover)

Learn about your colors and animals all at once! It is very interesting, amazing facts, and cool facts about animal colors. My 20 month old loves this book.