Actual Size

Jenkins, S. (2004). Actual size. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-618-37594-3

Plot Summary:

Jenkins created this book illustrated with collages made of torn and cut paper to depict animals and their actual size.  He uses 18 extreme opposites of the animal kingdom to present to his readers. Jenkins uses simple text with his illustrations that are set to a simple background.  More information on each animal is available.

Analysis:

The illustrations are set on a white background and have a small amount of text, which allow the reader to really be connected to the information available.  The reader is able to really grasp the actual size and even the possible texture of the animals that Jenkins focuses on with the way that he has created the simple illustrations made of cut and torn-paper.  When the animal in focus is an animal that is too large to include whole (in scale), Jenkins has illustrated a small part of it, it really allows the reader to grasp the grandeur of the animal, like the fold out pages illustrating the jaw of the crocodile’s jaw or the 12 inch eye of a giant squid (whose size can be up to 59 feet long).   The book ends with several pages of more information on each of the animals highlighted with full body images of the animals.

Review Excerpts:

Review on PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY (May 2004) “Actual Size by Steve Jenkins is the Caldecott Honor artist's latest foray into the natural world. Here, his signature cut- and torn-paper collage artwork depicts animals to scale, imitating fur and skin remarkably.”

Review on KIRKUS (May 2004) “A new exploration of the biological world, from one of the current masters of collage, features life-size —not scaled— representations of the extremes of the animal kingdom.”

Connections:

Math Connection-The illustrations are great for students of all ages as they are shown “actual size.” The illustrations can be used to compare with measurement, standard or non-standard measures.  The students can also use the measurements to create word problems on their own.

Science Connection-The illustrations and information in this book is great for when teaching units on animals. This book could also be used when doing a food chains/web unit to talk about how animal size could determine the position on the food chain/web.