Biggest, Strongest, Fastest

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jenkins, Steve. 1995. BIGGEST, STRONGEST, FASTEST. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0395697018

PLOT SUMMARY

BIGGEST, STRONGEST, FASTEST is a book that Steve Jenkins wrote for his son who was always asking him about the extremes when it came to animals.  Some of the extremes he explores which animals are the smallest, slowest, largest, and fastest.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This is a great informational book for beginning readers and also for more advanced readers.  There is a short sentence describing each animal such as, “There are many kinds of large snakes, but the anaconda is the biggest.” Then there are longer explanations to the side if children want more information about the animal.  One of the neat things this book does is it shows the animal in relation to a human.  With the snake, there is a picture showing how much longer the snake is than the human.  This is great for children because they are not yet abstract thinkers, so there is a concrete example for them to see.  If students are interested in a particular animal there is a chart at the back of the book that gives more information about the animals found in the book.

The paper collage pictures are very detailed and fun to look at.  For example, you can see the tiny hairs on the ant’s legs and the scales on the anaconda.  The pictures help bring the size of the animals into perspective.  The picture of the sun jellyfish, which is the longest animal, stretches out for three pages and the picture of the shrew, which is the smallest animal, is lying in a spoon.

Steve Jenkins has written many books about animals and science. This book in particular was named an Outstanding Science Trade Book in 1996 by the National Science Teachers Association.  There is a bibliography of five books that Jenkins used to gather information for this book, showing students the importance of basing informational books on facts.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

BOOKLIST: “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. Older kids will love thinking about the additional facts regarding scale and proportion that are printed in small type.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Large, clear print; fascinating facts; and beautiful, detailed, cut-paper collages make this excellent title a delight.”

CONNECTIONS

*Encourage students to read more about one of the animals they find interesting.

*Have students research different animals and compare them to a human