Module 7 – Actual Size
Summary
Actual Size is a nonfiction picture book about the different sizes of many animals. Steve Jenkins is the author and illustrator who creates a book that displays illustrations that are of actual size. Every page includes some brief facts and statistics about the animal being displayed. He carefully selects and researches different animal parts that given their actual sizes on paper, allow the reader to have a close up view of what it would look like in real life. Jenkins does not use photographs for his illustrations. Instead, he creates the illustrations out of paper so that the reader will be able to truly measure and evaluate the actual size of the animal and or its parts. At the back of the book, Jenkins finishes up by adding more in-depth material at the back of the book about the measurements and findings.
My Impression
Each picture is exciting because it allows the reader to grasp the concept of measurement as they take in each page. I can visualize a child putting their own hand up to the gorilla’s hand in the book and comparing their hand’s size to the gorilla’s.
Library Setting
This would be great to teach with measurement skills. The teacher can use this book with students for basic skills and also about estimation. The actual sizes in this nonfiction book will engage the students about different sizes and their actual measurements. The students could make their own picture book about different objects that they choose and use either the whole or the part of the object and the actual size.
Reviews
Gr. 1-3. As in many of his previous bestiaries, including the Caldecott Honor Book What Can You Do with a Tail Like This? (2003), Jenkins'newest presents a parade of cut-paper animals, each accompanied by a pithy line of text. The difference here is the scale: everything appears at actual size. Jenkins'masterstroke, though, is his inclusion of creatures both great and small, so while petite critters fit comfortably within 12-by-20-inch spreads, larger ones appear as evocatively cropped bits and pieces: a gorilla's massive hand; a Siberian tiger's snarling mug; the unnerving, basketball-size eye of a giant squid. The resulting juxtapositions will leave children marveling at one species'daintiness, then shuddering as they mentally sketch in the unseen portions of more formidable beasts. Jenkins'artwork is gorgeous (a gatefold of a frog in midleap is particularly memorable), and, at the end of the book, thumbnail images of the featured animals paired with information about habitat and behavior put the piquant visuals into a broader context. An unusual, unusually effective tool for connecting children to nature's astonishing variety.
(2004, May 15). Booklist [Review of the book Actual Size]. Retrieved by http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=348a7a1411b2abcdf931eb6dbc56bee8
Jenkins's signature cut-paper collages are once again amazing in this oversize book in which life-size illustrations of eighteen creatures (or parts of them) invite reader participation. A nearly twelve-inch-long gorilla hand entices readers to see how their own hands measure up; the foot-across Goliath birdeater tarantula will inspire a similar reach. Included are creatures great and small: a dwarf goby fish barely registers on the page, while the Alaskan brown bear's head overflows a double-page spread. The relative sizes are accentuated by the white backdrop and are grounded by the straightforward information that accompanies the creatures--one or two brief sentences followed by the animal's height/length and weight--as they parade across the expansive pages. For dramatic appeal, a single-page foldout unveils itself halfway through this lesson in size: on one side an imposing saltwater crocodile's snout proudly displays a full mouth of teeth, while on the other side the greater part of a Goliath frog is shown in mid-leap. Additional information about each creature is included at the back, along with a complete picture of each animal, helpful in those cases where only part of an animal fits on a page.
(2004, May/June). Horn Book [Review of the book Actual Size]. Retrieved by http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=348a7a1411b2abcdf931eb6dbc56bee8
Jenkins's signature cut-paper collages are once again amazing in this oversize book containing life-size illustrations of eighteen creatures great and small. One or two brief sentences, followed by the animal's height/length and weight, accompany each picture. Additional facts are included at the back, along with a complete illustration of each animal.
(2004, Fall). Horn Book starred [Review of the book Actual Size]. Retrieved by http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=348a7a1411b2abcdf931eb6dbc56bee8
Module 7 – Rosa
Summary
Rosa is a nonfiction picture book about Rosa Parks in Alabama back in 1955. The true story takes place during the time period when blacks and whites were not treated equally. In the story, Rosa was asked to give up her seat for a white citizen. As a result, she was arrested for not getting up and moving. She stood firm to her beliefs about what is right and wrong and her actions prompted her and many supporters to stop riding the bus. During the boycott, African Americans marched and picketed for equal rights for all.
My Impression
This is a beautifully illustrated and written nonfiction picture book about Rosa Parks. Both the words and illustrations are sophisticated and will spark questions when you read this aloud.
Library Setting
This is great to teach when celebrating Black History Month. It is also great to teach during History or Social Studies when learning about influential men and women throughout history.
Reviews
Gr. 3-5. Far from the cliche of Rosa Parks as the tired little seamstress, this beautiful picture-book biography shows her as a strong woman, happy at home and at work, and politically aware ("not tired from work, but tired of . . . eating at separate lunch counters and learning at separate schools"). Her refusal to give up her seat on a bus inspires her friend Jo Ann Robinson, president of the Women's Political Council, and the 25 council members to make posters calling for the bus boycott, and they organize a mass meeting where the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. speaks for them. Paired very effectively with Giovanni's passionate, direct words, Collier's large watercolor-and-collage illustrations depict Parks as an inspiring force that radiates golden light, and also as part of a dynamic activist community. In the unforgettable close-up that was used for the cover, Parks sits quietly waiting for the police as a white bus driver demands that she give up her seat. In contrast, the final picture opens out to four pages showing women, men, and children marching for equal rights at the bus boycott and in the years of struggle yet to come. The history comes clear in the astonishing combination of the personal and the political.
(2005, June 1). Booklist starred [Review of the book Rosa]. Retrieved by http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=348a7a1411b2abcdf931eb6dbc56bee8
Poet Giovanni's lightly fictionalized (and unsourced) feminist account of Rosa Parks's historic refusal to give up her seat on a bus in 1955 Montgomery emphasizes the role of the Women's Political Council but soft-pedals both the NAACP's contributions and Parks's own prior political activism. Handsome collage paintings with bold patterns and strong figures do more than ample justice to Parks's heroism.
(2006, Spring). Horn Book [Review of the book Rosa]. Retrieved by http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=348a7a1411b2abcdf931eb6dbc56bee8
Rosa Parks sat. "She had not sought this moment, but she was ready for it." When she refused to move out of the neutral section of her bus to make way for white passengers, she sparked the Montgomery bus boycott. She was tired of putting white people first. Giovanni's lyrical text and Collier's watercolor-and-collage illustrations combine for a powerful portrayal of a pivotal moment in the civil-rights movement. The art complements and extends the text, with visual references to Emmett Till, the Edmund Pettus Bridge and Martin Luther King, Jr. The yellowish hue of the illustrations represents the Alabama heat, the light emanating from Rosa Parks's face a shining beacon to all who would stand up for what's right. A dramatic foldout mural will make this important work even more memorable. An essential volume for classrooms and libraries. (Picture book. 5+)
(2005, July 15). Kirkus Review [Review of the book Rosa]. Retrieved by http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=348a7a1411b2abcdf931eb6dbc56bee8
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