Actual Size

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Bibliography

Jenkins, Steve.  Actual Size.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.  0-618-37594-5

Summary

Everyone has seen a gorilla, at the zoo, on TV or in the pictures of a book.  The dark, furry face is familiar.  But just how big is a gorilla?  If you were to put your hand next to a gorilla’s hand, how would you compare?  This is one of the questions Steve Jenkins sets out to answer in Actual Size.  Just how big is the foot of the world’s largest land mammal?  How small is the world’s smallest primate?  Read to find out!

Analysis

Young children inevitably want to learn about the world around them, particularly about animals.  Beautiful art, simple language and concrete sizes make Actual Size a perfect selection to introduce young readers to nonfiction while satisfying their curiosities. 

Every page of the book has a plain white background, allowing the text and illustrations to pop.  The text is limited, with only a single sentence and a few measurement details on each page.  This allows each stunning illustration to be the focal point of the book.  Each picture is made, as the title suggests, in actual size.  Bound by the page size, this limits the reader to only seeing portions of many of the animals, giving a strong idea of how large they truly are.

If readers are not satisfied with the simple, one sentence hook from each page, they can reference the end of the book where each animal has a paragraph about them as well as a picture showing their full body, either at a distance or, for small animals, close up to see more detail.  While no sources are cited, Steve Jenkins’s reputation precedes him and gives credibility to the information. 

Awards and Reviews

*Orbis Pictus Honor Book

*Booklist Editor’s Choice

*Natural History Best Books for Young Readers, 2004

“In striking torn-and-cut paper collages, Jenkins depicts 18 animals and insects–or a part of their body–in actual size… 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. A thoroughly engaging read-aloud and a must-have for any collection.–School Library Journal

“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. Wonderfully textured collages are set against a white background, accompanied by a minimal text gloss about the animals, and their sizes. Some are so huge that only parts can be seen (the one-foot-diameter eye of a giant squid) and others require some squinting (the 1/3-inch dwarf goby). It's a fascinating subject, and one that will resonate with an audience for whom relative size is a matter of daily interest. Jenkins exploits it for all its worth, including a fold-out of a crocodile's jaw and a snarling tiger whose face spills off the page. Four concluding pages provide more information about the featured animals, along with reasonably sized, full-body reiterations of the illustrations. Sadly enough, however, in a book that is so intimately concerned with measurement, only English units are used, seemingly ignoring the fact that the metric system is the universal language of science worldwide. A regrettable flaw in an otherwise outstanding offering.” – Kirkus Reviews

Connections

As a class, have students choose animals to research.  When their research is complete, have students make an actual size version of their animal.  Display the animals and invite others to visit the “Actual Size Zoo.”  Students can dress as zookeepers and inform the visitors about the animal they researched.

Steve Jenkins’s website

Jenkins uses torn paper to create his art.  Watch Jenkins explain his process (here or here).  Choose a scientific concept and have students illustrate it using the process Jenkins describes.

An interview with Jenkins

Read a number of Jenkins’s books and complete an author's study.  Look for similarities and differences in his books. 

Prepare a list of animal heights.  Have student measure these heights on paper then hang it in the room.  Compare the height of students to the animals.  Use these measurements as the basis of a math lesson on comparing.