ACTUAL SIZE
by Steve Jenkins

1. Bibliography:
Jenkins, Steve. ACTUAL SIZE. 2002. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 157171414

Steve Jenkins lives in Colorado and has written and illustrated nearly twenty picture books for young readers. His book WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A TAIL LIKE THIS? received the Caldecott Honor Award. His books have been called gorgeous, stunning, inventive, eyepopping, glorious, masterful, informative, extraordinary, compelling, irresistible, engaging, playful, compelling, and accessible,

www.stevejenkinsbooks.com


2. Plot Summary
ACTUAL SIZE is a factual information book of the animals and insects that appear as actual scale throughout the book. Each page reveals a different picture often comparing one picture to another. Factual information in the back discusses their physical characteristics, eating habits, and their habitat. The book is very descriptive and informative.

3. Critical Analysis
The book is written and illustrated for children ages 4 - 8 but it provides factual information for children through adult. This book is very informative, with limited text on each page.

The writing is informative and interesting. It will capture the reader’s attention and encourage them to seek out more books on the subjects discussed through the book. The vocabulary is suitable for young children and the author’s use of comparative text to give the young reader a visual image of the topic enhances the book.

The book contains pictures of life-sized animals and insects:
The rare giant walking stick is the world’s longest insect

length: 22 inches long

The Goliath birdeater tarantula is big enough to catch and eat birds and small mammals.

legs: 12 inches across

The giant Gippsland earthworm lives in Australia.

length: 36 inches


The illustrations textured, colorful die-cuts, are creative and they capture the attention of the reader as they have a visual image of the size and shape of these creatures. The pictures flow well with the photographs. The illustrator has creatively placed die-cut pictures of a very large animal and has compared it to a very small animal on the opposite page to help the reader understand the size of each creature that is being presented in the text.

In the back of the book, factual information and a picture of each insect or animal that was discussed in the book can be found here. It is a very informative paragraph that will help the reader in expanding their knowledge of each subject.

The atlas moth is discussed of its physical characteristics and habitat:

The atlas moth got its name because the patterns on its wings reminded people of maps. It is the largest moth, with wings up to 12 inches across. The atlas moth lives in Southeast Asia, where its large cocoons are sometimes made into pocket purses by the local people. The black spots on the tips of the atlas moth’s wings are called eye spots. They make the wing tips look like snake heads, which may scare away predators. These moths do not feed. They have no mouth parts for eating, and they live only a few days.


4. Review Excerpts

From School Library Journal
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.–Dona Ratterree, New York City Public Schools
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Connections: Read the book and show the pictures on each page.
Show the children the picture of the atlas moth and read the following that is included in the back of the book:

The atlas moth got its name because the patterns on its wings reminded people of maps. It is the largest moth, with wings up to 12 inches across. The atlas moth lives in Southeast Asia, where its large cocoons are sometimes made into pocket purses by the local people. The black spots on the tips of the atlas moth’s wings are called eye spots. They make the wing tips look like snake heads, which may scare away predators. These moths do not feed. They have no mouth parts for eating, and they live only a few days.

Discuss the facts and the strange characteristics of this moth. A question to begin open-ended discussion: why aren’t the moths extinct if they only live a few days and cannot eat?? This was very informative to me as I had no idea that a creature on earth was created with a way to eat.

Have each child color or paint an actual size beautiful moth that has been cut out of construction paper. Search for pictures of the moth’s cocoon and create these also. Display these on the bulletin board with the factual information.

Discuss additional facts on another subject in the book and have the children point out the characteristics or differences of these.


Additional suggested books by Steve Jenkins include:

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A TAIL LIKE THIS?
LIFE ON EARTH: THE STORY OF EVOLUTION
THE TOP OF THE WORLD: CLIMBING MOUNT EVEREST