Product Description

Just how big is a crocodile? What about a tiger, or the world's largest spider? Can you imagine a tongue that is two feet long or an eye that is bigger than your head? Sometimes facts and figures don't tell the whole story. In this visually stunning book, seeing is believing as Steve Jenkins illustrates animals both large and small at their actual size.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #937569 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 5–In striking torn-and-cut paper collages, Jenkins depicts 18 animals and insects–or a part of their body–in actual size. One illustration compares an atlas moth with a 12-inch wingspan to a dwarf goby fish, which is 1/3-inch long. The eye of a giant squid, at a foot across, occupies a spread to terrific effect; only the snout and tongue–curling its two-foot length across two pages and littered with termites–are visible in the picture of the giant anteater. The hand of a gorilla fills a page opposite the entire pygmy mouse lemur with its tiny human-fingertip-sized palm. The saltwater crocodile grows to 23 feet, so tremendous that its head occupies a three-page foldout. On the reverse side is the rat-eating Goliath frog, a staggering 36 inches long in full hop. One or two lines of text briefly introduce each animal and give specific measurements, e.g., the gorilla stands 5 ½ feet tall and weighs 600 pounds, while the mouse lemur is 2 ½ inches tall and weighs 1 ounce. The end matter offers full pictures of the creatures and more details about their habitats and habits. 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.

From Booklist
Gr. 1-3. As in many of his previous bestiaries, including the Caldecott Honor Book What Can You Do with a Tail Like This? (2003), Jenkins' newest presents a parade of cut-paper animals, each accompanied by a pithy line of text. The difference here is the scale: everything appears at actual size. Jenkins' masterstroke, though, is his inclusion of creatures both great and small, so while petite critters fit comfortably within 12-by-20-inch spreads, larger ones appear as evocatively cropped bits and pieces: a gorilla's massive hand; a Siberian tiger's snarling mug; the unnerving, basketball-size eye of a giant squid. The resulting juxtapositions will leave children marveling at one species' daintiness, then shuddering as they mentally sketch in the unseen portions of more formidable beasts. Jenkins' artwork is gorgeous (a gatefold of a frog in midleap is particularly memorable), and, at the end of the book, thumbnail images of the featured animals paired with information about habitat and behavior put the piquant visuals into a broader context. An unusual, unusually effective tool for connecting children to nature's astonishing variety. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"A thoroughly engaging read-aloud and a must-have for any collection." School Library Journal"

Customer Reviews

Wow!
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

Possibly the coolest book ever
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.