Picture This: The Animal Book

The Animal Book by Steve Jenkins

This book is phenomenal. Subtitled "A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest--and Most Surprising--Animals on Earth," this book is a sort of animal almanac featuring Jenkins's fantastic cut and torn paper collage illustrations. He includes chapters on various aspects of animal life, like family (mating, birth, parental roles, siblings, and animal upbringings) and defenses (how animals protect themselves in the wild, by hiding, with armor, by fighting back, etc.).  The information is interesting, and oftentimes kooky or gross or weird. (Did you know the Surinam toad eggs are embedded in pockets on the mother's back, from which the tadpoles emerge? Or that horned lizards shoot blood from their eyes at predators for protection?!!) Kids will eat this stuff up!

There is so much to look at and read. In addition to the illustrations and animal facts, Jenkins features actual size illustrations of animals and eggs and represents information in graphs, charts, and other graphics. Everything is laid out artistically and his artistic and graphic eye is apparent on every page. An incredible amount of work must have been put into this and it paid off. Excellent in every way.

Just look at the artistic depiction of these animals! Such an eye