Book Review, Genre 4: BIGGEST, STRONGEST, FASTEST
Author: Steve Jenkins
Title: Biggest, Strongest, Fastest
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Publication Date: 1995
ISBN: 0395697018
Plot summary: Introduces the world's smallest, largest,
strongest, fastest, and slowest creatures, their characteristics, and
behavior. Readers can see each animal’s size in relation to something
familiar along with a short fact.
Critical analysis: The opening page entices readers: they
are about to embark on a journey of “the record holders of the animal world.”
Buckle up! Readers spend the next 28 pages following well-organized and
detailed paper collages of big, strong and fast animals.
Author and illustrator Steve Jenkins uses a simple
organizational format for young readers to learn about each animal represented:
“The African elephant is the biggest land animal” and “The Etruscan shrew, the
world’s smallest mammal, could sleep in a teaspoon.”
Each animal is depicted in a cut-paper collage that is so
full of texture, the reader would want to touch the page and then feel disappointed
in feeling flat paper. The pages are designed with sidebars of a few sentences
of information for each animal along with a representation of how each animal’s
size compares to an adult human or a hand.
Jenkins’ clear writing style inspires curiosity in readers
to want to learn more about the animals shown … and they can infer more
information at the end of the book where Jenkins has compiled a table with the
record, size, diet and range of each animal in his book.
Biggest, Strongest, Fastest would be a welcome addition to
any elementary school library. The design is child-friendly and would get
checked out often by students. The book would be well received in a story time
setting or a book talk on Jenkins’ works.
Review excerpt:
- School Library Journal Book Review Stars, May 1995
- Texas Reading Club, 1998
- Mockingbird Award, 1995-1996, Nominee
- Booklist, Feb. 1, 1995 (Vol. 91, No. 11) by Hazel Rochman: The book's design makes it accessible at many levels. The youngest can identify the various creatures. Preschoolers can enjoy the one-sentence descriptions in large type ("The cheetah can run faster than any other animal. . . . The flea is very small, but it is the world's best jumper"). Older kids will love thinking about the additional facts regarding scale and proportion that are printed in small type, accompanied by a tiny silhouette in the corner of each picture ("If a 5 1/2-foot-tall woman could jump as well as a flea, she could leap to the top of a 65-story building"). Here's proof that power isn't just about size and that science can be a lot of fun.
- Children’s Literature by Marilyn Courtot: For kids who ask those impossible questions-- what animal is the biggest, or smallest, longest or shortest, and so on--Jenkins has created a delightful series of answers using full color cut paper collage illustrations. From the streaking cheetah on the cover to the tiny Etruscan shrew sitting on a teaspoon, readers see the animal and learn salient facts plus a few more delicious tidbits. Cleverly done and sure to appeal to both the littlest and biggest of readers.
Connections:
- Learn more about author Steven Jenkins at his website: http://www.stevejenkinsbooks.com/
- The librarian can read the book Move! by Steve Jenkins and then show a video made by Jenkins’ son depicting how he created the illustrations for the book: http://www.stevejenkinsbooks.com/making_books_video.html
- Other books by Steve Jenkins:
Actual Size ISBN: 0618375945
Bones: Skeletons and How They Work ISBN: 9780545046510
Move! ISBN: 061864637X
What Do You Do With A Tail Like This? ISBN: 0618256288
How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships
IBSN: 9780547994840
Bibliography
Cover, Mount
Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. October 12, 2016.
Jenkins, S.
(1995). Biggest, strongest, fastest. New York: Ticknor & Fields Books
for Young Readers. 0395697018
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