Steve Jenkins and Robin Paige know how to create original and gorgeous nonfiction picture books. Mr. Jenkins incredible torn paper art and Ms. Page's well-researched and just-the-right-amount-of-facts text combine to teach children and adults about the world of animal's foods and reproduction. As an adult naturalist, I was fascinated to learn that the "Polynesian megapode buries her eggs in ash at the rim of a volcanic crater and delighted by the fact that echidna young are called puggles (is that not a wonderful word?). I also appreciate the additional information on each species in the back matter. A must for libraries and elementary schools. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book. My favorite part about the book was the way the text is organized. The whole book is organized so that there is a question, and on the following page, there are multiple answers from different perspectives. For example, one of the questions is, “how many ways can you use a leaf?” and on the next page, we are told six different ways that different animals use leaves. This is a great feature especially for children, as it broadens their perspectives. Also, I really liked that in the back of the book, the author listed each animal that was discussed in the book, and wrote a short passage describing each one. That was helpful, even for me, because most of the animals discussed in this book were exotic and not animals that are found in this area. For example, a Mexican burrowing toad, a burrowing parrot, a red rock urchin, and many more. The main point of this story is to describe how various animals preform various tasks, and how they all do things differently.

As Spring makes it debut this year, many critters find their way to our playground. My students have found many different crawlers, and have shown interest. I chose to read Jenkins' How Many Ways Can You Catch A Fly? to my class, to foster that intellectual curiosity. We recently went on a field trip to Long Vue House and Gardens, where their interest in worms came from. That interest turned into a discussion about birds, then to a discussion about bugs, and then the general idea of nature. We've spent time discussing butterflies, life cycles, plants, bug and their relationships with plants, what plants do for us... whatever they respond to. For me, it's all integrated content, which is mutually beneficial. Their learning is more organic, and I maintain their interest and am able to deliver math and language in a way that engages them.
This book opens with a broad idea: all animals need food. My students looked at the picture, showing a chameleon eyeing a fly, and responded with “Oh, he's gonna eat him”. Each page contains neutral scientific information about each animal and how it finds food. I found this refreshing, since true science, although graphic, is censored by many to “spare” the children. I do not believe in “dumbing it down” or keeping information from them (within reason). For example, when the book talks about the anhinga bird, Jenkins writes that the bird stabs the fish with its beak and swallows the fish whole. One of my kids said “Wow, he's mean” in response to this information. I paused, searching for an answer, and said “He's not mean, that's how he eats. We've seen frogs eat flies and we know that spiders eat mosquitos; the anhinga bird needs to eat too!”. I wouldn't go so far to relate this to shooting a cow with a rifle, but I like that Jenkins didn't avoid using the word “stab”.
We learned so much from reading this book together. Some animals use suction to trap their prey, some use teeth, some work independently, some work in groups... my students were fascinated. The book discusses animals that lay eggs and how they care of them. My students were very concerned about the Polynesian megapode eggs, because they are buried in volcanic craters. We have recently learned about volcanos, so my students' faces were full of concern (“what if the lava spills on them?!”). I did skip a part on this page, for several reasons. The ichneumon wasp lays eggs inside of a caterpillar. The larvae eat the caterpillar from the inside out once they hatch. This concept was very odd, and difficult to explain. Why would a bug lay eggs inside a living thing? I didn't feel like this part was necessary to cover. Also, the book is quite long and some text needed to be omitted anyways.
The book goes into how leaves are used, which my kids had prior knowledge for. We had a master gardener visit our classroom and tell us all about why leaves are important.
Before I began the next section, I found my students losing patience. We were 20 minutes into our discussion/read-aloud, and I thought it would be best to resume later in the day.
During centers, I had prepared a few “buckets of interest”. I had plastic bugs and a bug reference book in a Ziploc back with magnifying glasses, a tray of natural materials (leaves, sticks, rocks) with more magnifying glasses, clipboards with blank paper and pencils, sentence strips with nature words and pictures with dry erase markers, various puppets, and a stack of books. These materials were divided into 3 groups so that the kids could spread out. The only material they were allowed to bring from group to group were the clipboard and pencils. I try my best to provide an opportunity to write at all times. Not all children are interested, but a few really like this.
Each center was very successful; I felt that it was appropriate to divide the book up because of the amount of information. They had plenty of content to chew on just with the first 3-4 pages. With Easter coming up, they were especially interested in the eggs.
I found Jenkins' book to be informative, thought provoking, and visually pleasing. All of his illustrations are interesting and layered. Looking back at the pictures, I wish I had prepared materials for making a collage, so the children could make their own illustrations using scissors, tearing, and glue. We've also been exploring Eric Carle's work, so there's still time for it.
After finishing the book, I showed the informational pictures to my students. I put the book into their centers the following day and found that they weren't as interested in the informational pictures. They did, however, spend plenty of time looking at the pages independently. I will use this book again, for many reasons and throughout several units.

Steve Jenkins and Robin Page explore the many ways animals adapt to their environment from catching food to digging a hole and much more. Children will love looking at the stunning pictures of cut-paper collage as they explore how animals make use their bodies to create and sustain life. ( )

This book does an impressive job of answering a number of simple essential questions about animals and includes an abundance of extra information in the back of the text. Great book. ( )