Actual Size

Steve Jenkins is the king of nonfiction within the walls of my classroom, and I assume many more around the world. My students have been captivated for years by the realistic depictions of animals both big and small and are frequently found sneaking off with Actual Size and putting their hands on the front cover, verifying just how large the gorilla's hand really is. Although this is classified as a science-related text, it lends itself quite easily to math by provoking readers to measure and compare. The illustrations are vibrant with a beautiful texture, but what really makes them special is the gimmick - young children might not comment on the depth the collaged paper gives the animals, but they will squeal with delight when they show more open the foldouts. show less

This stunning book contains a fun range of animals presented in "actual size," as the title suggests. In paper-cut illustrations, Steve Jenkins illustrates the incredibly big size of some creatures and the surprisingly small size of others.

This is great for a read aloud to attract students to the natural world. The scale of the animals (almost always just parts of their bodies, particularly for the really big ones like the giant squid) makes this book impressive. As teachers we sometimes need to rely on a "wow factor" to lure our students into learning about scientific concepts. This book definitely includes that element of incredulity.

This book is awesome for introducing and talking about mathematical concepts like scale. The art is really cool and helpful for understanding, you guessed it, the actual size of things. It includes a huge eyeball (of a squid), a tiny fish, and the tongue of an anteater. The way the author/illustrator uses the art to depict the actual size of things makes the book very educational, approachable, and engaging. I purchased this book for my nephew and he enjoyed reading it and learning about the different animals, but especially enjoyed the illustrations.
For my own use, as a middle school teacher of English to multilingual students, I can see this being very useful to put together comparative and superlative sentence frames for students to show more compare the length and weight of different animals and practice the terms of measurement. The animals and art help this become.a more engaging practice task that they can do in partners or small groups. show less

Actual Size, written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins, is an informational picture book for elementary-age students. When I first saw this book many years ago, I knew it had to be a part of my classroom library. Its physical size is striking and doesn't fit on most classroom bookshelves as it is exceptionally long for compared to other picture books. There's a reason for this. Just like the title suggests, the book is filled with the actual size of animals' hands, wings, eyes and bodies. There are even folded pages that students can unfold to see the true size of the animal. The purpose of this book is to engage the reader in comparing their actual size with that of many different animals, from a Siberian tiger to a goliath beetle or a show more giant walking stick. In addition to the unique artwork in this book, there's informational text that details facts about the various animals and sea creatures. The artwork in this book is made of collages of various papers. Steve Jenkins creates this first through a sketch and then by cutting shapes from colored paper to create the final shape of the animal. He uses paper, a simple glue stick, and scissors to make the collage. show less

Steve Jenkins! His informational books always bring high interest and amazing facts that captivate readers. This book is another great one. Actual Size is filled with animals and illustrations of their actual size, some it is the entire animal, like the atlas moth, with the fact "so large that it is often mistaken for a bird." Or some animals Jenkins focuses on one aspect of the animal like the length of the giant anteater's two-foot-long tongue. The book also has great additional information about each animal for the reader at the back of the book.

I love the life-size illustrations in this Steve Jenkins' book. Jenkins inspires wonder; seeing a giant frog spring across the page or the palm of a gorilla, much larger than mine makes me stop and consider how incredible creation is. One of my students does not care for reading, but has an intense interest in the giant squid, featured in this book. I think Steve Jenkins' information books are perfect for the young reader who finds non fiction works more engaging than fiction.

This book is an interactive experience for readers to see how animals can be so big or tiny. Children love this book because it is awe inspiring. The text is strong since there is basic information for younger readers and more advanced text available on each page.