Module 11: What do you do with a tail like this?

Book cover image:

Taken from Goodreads.com (Goodreads, Inc., n.d.)   

Genre:

The book What do you do with a tail like this? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page is a nonfiction/ informational picture book for children.  A subgenre for this book could either be animals or science.  Additionally, it was a 2004 Caldecott Honor book for the wonderful illustrations in the book.

Book Summary:

The book features cut-paper collage illustrations that takes readers through a discovery of what difference animals do with their noses, ears, tails, eyes, mouths, and feet.  The page that ask the question about each body part features colorful illustrations of that particular part of the body. Each page is a full-spread illustration and simply ask “What do you do with …. like this/ these?”  The page following each question features a colorful full-spread page of the entire animal and a blurb of what each animal does with the particular body part.  For example, the question about ears shows a cricket with the answer, “if you’re a cricket, you hear with ears that are on your knees”.  Seriously, who knew! Even adults can learn something from children’s books. 

APA Reference of Book:  

Jenkins, S., & Page, R. (2003). What do you do with a tail like this? Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing.

Impressions:

As a librarian, educator, and mom of curious children, I absolutely loved this simple picture book.  It is perfect for younger emergent readers to look at the pictures and have an adult or older sibling read to them what each of the animals do.  The illustrations are full of color and detail and easily capture the attention and curiosity of the reader.  As a librarian and educator, this book is perfect for reading aloud and getting the children to participate in guessing what each animal is and how they use the different parts of their body.  I will throw out plenty more ideas in the ‘library uses’ part of the blog, but there really are so many great things that can be done with this book.  For a picture book for early elementary readers, I think this book provides the perfect amount of facts for each animal and there is a good balance of text and illustrations.  For readers such as myself who always crave more information there is a short glossary at the back of the book that uses pictures for each entry and gives more information on each animal.  Each entry includes information such as where the animal lives, how big they can get, and other interesting facts.  This book really is a great example of a high-quality nonfiction/ informational picture book.

Professional Review:

Reviewed on March 1, 2003 in School Library Journal by Wanda Meyers-Hines, Ridgecrest Elementary School, Huntsville, AL and posted online on Book Verdict

K-Gr 4 Jenkins, this time in collaboration with his wife, has created yet another eye-opening book. Children will learn that lizards can completely break off their tail as a defense and that it will grow back. And, they'll find out that crickets' ears are on their knees. Most fish have two eyes, but some have four, the better to see above and below the water at the same time. These are just a few of the fascinating facts of nature dangled out front to draw readers into this beautifully illustrated book. On each spread, five different animals' tails, ears, eyes, or other body parts, done in vibrant cut-paper collage, appear with a simple question ("What do you do with a- like this?"). The next spread shows the five creatures in their entirety and offers a brief explanation. For example, "If you're an elephant, you use your nose to give yourself a bath." The back pages offer more information for older or more curious readers. This is a great book for sharing one-on-one or with a group.

APA Reference of Professional Review:

Media Source Book Verdict. (2003, March 1). What do you do with a tail like this? Retrieved March 8, 2018, from Book Verdict: http://bookverdict.com/details.xqy?uri=Product-9464162.xml

Library Uses: 

There are obviously plenty of ways to use this book to introduce science lessons for elementary age students, but I want to take a fun, artistic approach to the using the book in the library.  Firstly, this book is perfect for a read aloud and gives the children plenty of opportunities to interact with the reader.  As the storyteller reads the question about “what do you do with …”, they can show the picture to the children and have them raise their hands and make guesses. The picture can either be shown on a projector or just by holding it up where everyone can see.  As they ask the children questions, have them guess what type of animal it is and what they do with the that particular body part.  Once plenty have guess have been made, flip the page and read what each animal does.  After the book is complete, have the children go back to their tables were plenty of art supplies are laid out.  Have each student create their own animal (real or imagined).  After animals have been created have the students come up and present their animals, hiding all but one body part just as done in the book and let the class guess what the animal uses the part for. For some added fun, add in some music by the Singing Zoologist, Lucas Miller that is both fun and educational.  Kids and parents of all ages will enjoy this, trust me! 

Readalikes:

The following readalikes can be used to extend the lessons on animals in a fun and colorful way.  Introducing many different stories about animals will build curiosity and allow children to explore their favorite animals and learn about new animals they may never have heard of. 

National Geographic book of animal poetry: 200 poems with photographs that squeak, soar, and roar! compiled by J. Patrick Lewis is a fantastically fun and colorful way to introduce young children to poetry.  With 200 poems and illustrations, children will be captivated and learn a few more facts about these cool animals. 

I try not to use readalikes by the same author, but Steve Jenkins has written so many great animal books, it is hard not to include at least one.  One of my kids’ favorites and one I always enjoy reading at the library is Biggest, strongest, fastest.  I love love love the illustrations in all of Steve Jenkins books, and he always combines the colorful pictures with cool facts about different animals.  Many world records from the animal kingdom can be fond in this book such as the largest, fastest, and even the longest lived. 

A fun title from Scholastic Press will give children a chance to speculate what would happen if you had animal teeth.  What if you had animal teeth? by Sandra Markle takes a humorous approach to nonfiction with a book that teaches the reader about the purpose of different types of animal teeth.    Did you know the narwhal’s left tooth continues to grow until it is nearly teen-feet long and called a tusk?

Checkout my Goodreads list of children and youth literature I read during the Spring 2018 Semester at UNT.