Actual Size

Steve Jenkins (What Do You Do With A Tail Like This ?) Returns With Another Inventive, Involving Picture Book--this Time Inviting Young Readers To See How They Measure Up Against A Variety Of Different Animals (Represented In Colorful, Cut-Paper Collages At Actual Size). Each Spread Of Actual Size Presents A New Animal Or Two For Readers To Check Out, Along With A Few Interesting Facts And Physical Dimensions. Some Of The Colorful Collages Display The Entire Animal At Actual Scale (Like The Fleshy, 36-Inch Length Of A Giant Gippsland Earthworm)while Others Can Only Feature What Fits On The Page (An African Elephant's Foot, A Siberian Tiger's Face, Or Even Just A Gaping Maw Sporting A Few Four-Inch-long Teeth Of A Great White Shark). Two Fun Fold-Outs Show A Goliath Frog ("It's Big Enough To Catch And Eat Birds And Rats") And The Long, Toothy Smile Of A Saltwater Crocodile ("The World's Largest Reptile... A Man-Eater"). Jenkins' Collages Capture The Texture And Color Of These Cut-Out Creatures, And The Thoughtful Inclusion Of An Illustrated Index Shows Each Animal In Its Scaled-Down Entirety, Accompanied By Longer, Fact-Filled Descriptions. While Younger Kids Might Not Appreciate The Subtlety Of The Book's Clever "Actual-Size" Trope, Readers Young And Old Will Love All The Close-Up Views And Learn A Few Things Along The Way. (Ages 4 To 8)