Biggest, Strongest, Fastest by Steve Jenkins

Image retrieved from www.amazon.com

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jenkins, Steve. Biggest, Strongest, Fastest. New York, Ticknor & Fields for Young Readers, Houghton Mifflin: 1995. ISBN: 0395697018

2. PLOT SUMMARY

In this fascinating, informative book, Jenkins introduces readers to 14 world record holders in the animal world. He gives readers a tour through the best of the animal kingdom, the “biggest and smallest, fastest and slowest, strongest and longest animals.” Readers will gain a new respect for the pesky little flea who is the world’s best jumper - jumping 130 times its own height. They might be awestruck the next time they see an ant carrying crumbs away once they learn it’s the strongest animal - carrying five times its own weight. Learning about animals has never been as much fun as this book makes it.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Steve Jenkins organizes this book in a way that draws readers deeper into the stories of these animals, making them want to turn the pages faster to see which animal will be next. He begins with more familiar animals - the elephant, giraffe, ant, blue whale - and moves on to more obscure animals who are nonetheless impressive - the etruscan shrew, bee hummingbird, sun jellyfish, etc. He includes the most obscure, yet brief, facts about every animal so that readers are wowed by each one. For example, the African elephant eats over 300 pounds of grass or leaves every day. The Etruscan shrew could sleep in a teaspoon. Anacondas are so big they can swallow a whole deer or goat. Sun jellyfish have tentacles over 200 feet long. Simple, but amazing.

Jenkins gives most animals in this book a whole two-page spread in their honor. The spread features their picture and their world record. It also gives a brief description explaining why they’re the record holder, along with a silhouette showing readers the animal’s size in comparison to something familiar - giving them a tangible way to understand why the animal is so significant. The exceptions to the two-page spread include the Etruscan shrew, the world’s smallest mammal, and the bee hummingbird, the world’s smallest bird. These animals are so small they only require one page each. On the other hand, the blue whale (the world’s biggest animal) and the sun jellyfish (the world’s longest animal), get a whopping three-page spread, showing their magnificence in the animal kingdom.

Jenkins illustrates this book using collage. Each animal’s color contrasts with the background color, making the images pop off the page. He uses his illustrations to highlight the record-holding quality of each animal. He places the Etruscan shrew in a teaspoon. He gives the sun jellyfish three pages full of tentacles. He shows the cheetah running off the page. With each turn of the page, these beautifully illustrated, fascinating animals spring to life.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

From SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL - “Large, clear print; fascinating facts; and beautiful, detailed, cut-paper collages make this excellent title a delight … An all-round superlative effort.”

From BOOKLIST - “Here's proof that power isn't just about size and that science can be a lot of fun.”

5. CONNECTIONS

Gather other books written by Steve Jenkins to read such as:

• What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? ISBN 061899713X

• Actual Size. ISBN 0547512910
• Eye to Eye: How Animals See The World. ISBN 0547959079

Visit http://www.hmhbooks.com/readers_guides/pdfs/JenkinsGuide.pdf for a cross-curricular guide to books by Steve Jenkins, including this one.

Using Jenkins’s book, assign each student an animal from the book. Have them conduct further research on the animal and its significance in the animal kingdom.