Book Review - What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jenkins, Steve., & Page, Robin. (2008). WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A TAIL LIKE THIS?
The images themselves are drawn in a realistic style. The animals are the correct
coloring and have accurate features, which provides readers with detailed images to
connect the facts with the animals. The zoomed in images are done in the same style,
but are used to highlight the specific anatomy. For example, the anteater’s mouth is very
long, taking up almost the entire page, to help point out the fact that it uses its long
tongue to eat.
Lastly, the appendix in the back that goes through all the animals that were mentioned in
the book and provides additional details. This addition to the book provides older readers
a chance to continue exploring any facts or animals that were of interest.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK
BOOKLIST STARRED REVIEW
KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW: “Capped by a systematic appendix furnishing more, and
often arresting, details—“A humpback whale can be 50 feet long and weigh a ton per foot” —this array of wide eyes and open mouths will definitely have viewers responding with wide eyes and open mouths of their own.”
5. CONNECTIONS
*Students could take one feature from each section and create a new animal describing how it would act based on the facts they learned.
*Other books by Steve Jenkins featuring animal facts:
CREATURE FEATURES: TWENTY-FIVE ANIMALS EXPLAIN WHY THEY LOOK THE
WAY THEY DO. ISBN 978-0544233515
ACTUAL SIZE. ISBN 978-0547512914
BIGGEST, STRONGEST, FASTEST. ISBN 978-0395861363
Jenkins, Steve., & Page, Robin. (2008). WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A TAIL LIKE THIS?
Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780618997138
2. PLOT SUMMARY
This book combs through unique features of various animals involving the use of their
noses, ears, tails, eyes, feet, and mouths. Jenkins provides the facts on the importance
of these features while Page provides the illustrations that help bring context to the
information. The types of animals featured include reptiles, fish, mammals, and insects.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Appropriate for elementary aged children, this book details numerous facts about
common and uncommon animals. As the book goes through the different features, there
is a page that zooms in on the body part being analyzed and the following pages act as
a spread zooming out on those images and explaining how that animal uses their
anatomy to their advantage. The layout of the images is pleasing as it allows the reader
to read from left to right or hop around the page and read in the order they choose. The
layout of the sentences is also arranged to align with the animal that it is describing. For
example, the sentence explaining the use of a skunk’s tail is written to look like it is being
sprayed from the animal.
2. PLOT SUMMARY
This book combs through unique features of various animals involving the use of their
noses, ears, tails, eyes, feet, and mouths. Jenkins provides the facts on the importance
of these features while Page provides the illustrations that help bring context to the
information. The types of animals featured include reptiles, fish, mammals, and insects.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Appropriate for elementary aged children, this book details numerous facts about
common and uncommon animals. As the book goes through the different features, there
is a page that zooms in on the body part being analyzed and the following pages act as
a spread zooming out on those images and explaining how that animal uses their
anatomy to their advantage. The layout of the images is pleasing as it allows the reader
to read from left to right or hop around the page and read in the order they choose. The
layout of the sentences is also arranged to align with the animal that it is describing. For
example, the sentence explaining the use of a skunk’s tail is written to look like it is being
sprayed from the animal.
The images themselves are drawn in a realistic style. The animals are the correct
coloring and have accurate features, which provides readers with detailed images to
connect the facts with the animals. The zoomed in images are done in the same style,
but are used to highlight the specific anatomy. For example, the anteater’s mouth is very
long, taking up almost the entire page, to help point out the fact that it uses its long
tongue to eat.
Lastly, the appendix in the back that goes through all the animals that were mentioned in
the book and provides additional details. This addition to the book provides older readers
a chance to continue exploring any facts or animals that were of interest.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK
BOOKLIST STARRED REVIEW
KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW: “Capped by a systematic appendix furnishing more, and
often arresting, details—“A humpback whale can be 50 feet long and weigh a ton per foot” —this array of wide eyes and open mouths will definitely have viewers responding with wide eyes and open mouths of their own.”
5. CONNECTIONS
*Students could take one feature from each section and create a new animal describing how it would act based on the facts they learned.
*Other books by Steve Jenkins featuring animal facts:
CREATURE FEATURES: TWENTY-FIVE ANIMALS EXPLAIN WHY THEY LOOK THE
WAY THEY DO. ISBN 978-0544233515
ACTUAL SIZE. ISBN 978-0547512914
BIGGEST, STRONGEST, FASTEST. ISBN 978-0395861363
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