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8th out of 17 books
—
1 voter
Prehistoric Actual Size
What is it like to come face-to-face with the ten-foot-tall terror bird? Or stare into the mouth of the largest meat eater ever to walk the earth? Can you imagine a millipede that is more than six feet long, or a dinosaur smaller than a chicken? In this �actual size” look at the prehistoric world, which includes two dramatic gatefolds, you’ll meet these awe-inspiring creat...more
Hardcover, 36 pages
Published
September 26th 2005
by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
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Another big winner from Steve Jenkins. The man has magical abilities with paper. It's uncanny really. My very favorite book of his so far is Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea. My daughter's is Never Smile at a Monkey. They're both brilliant combinations of fact laden, fascinating, entertaining, and beautiful. But really I haven't come across a dud yet. They're all brilliant! And, obviously, this is no exception.
This one a prehistoric follow up to the very successful Actual Si...more
This one a prehistoric follow up to the very successful Actual Si...more
Jenkins, S. (2005). Prehistoric Actual Size. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
0618535780
Oh, Steve Jenkins.
I didn't realize it, but you've been at work for quite some time. Sitting in a corner, quietly shredding paper for your striking illustrations while the rest of us were wandering around.
Appetizer: In this picturebook, Jenkins uses his paper collages to show the actual size of a number of prehistoric creatures including a velociraptor, sea scorpion, diplocaulus, dragonfly, cockroach, millipede, giga...more
0618535780
Oh, Steve Jenkins.
I didn't realize it, but you've been at work for quite some time. Sitting in a corner, quietly shredding paper for your striking illustrations while the rest of us were wandering around.
Appetizer: In this picturebook, Jenkins uses his paper collages to show the actual size of a number of prehistoric creatures including a velociraptor, sea scorpion, diplocaulus, dragonfly, cockroach, millipede, giga...more
Reading this book to my daughter, I found myself placing my hands on the page very carefully, lest I snag my finger on a Baryonyx claw or accidentally touch the Very Large Cockroach. It's not that the illustrations are so terribly life-like. They are clearly pictures. It's just that the effect of seeing these creatures, or in most cases, bits of these creatures, at actual size is so startling. As I type this, I am cringing away from a millipede larger than my computer.
Sure, the view from within...more
Sure, the view from within...more
When it came time to pick an informational book I struggled in picking which book I wanted to read. I ended up picking this book and I actually learned a lot for it being a book that is probably more geared towards younger children. I loved how the creatures were not shown completely on the pages and how next to each of the pictures there is the amount of years it has been since the animal has been extinct and how big the animal is in inches or feet. I loved the pictures, how there were pages th...more
Wow! This book is brilliant! The pictures are amazing! The pictures range from large and small animals with their actual size! Also, their is a lot details in the illustrations.As I began reading this book, I noticed the eyes of each animal that came in different sizes. Teaching Kindergarten, I know my students will enjoy this book! It's a great way for my students to see things for themselves at their actual size! I know they would love this book and wish these animals would be real!
At the end...more
At the end...more
Copyright 2005
Informational
Not my cup of tea - dinosaurs just don't do it for me. However, we all know that kids LOVE dinosaurs and are all paleontologists in the making! The book works chronologically, starting with a protozoan from 550 million years ago. Then, with cut and torn paper illustrations, Jenkins shows creatures - or parts of them - in their actual size. Sometimes it is the entire creature and sometimes it is a claw! Filled with lots of great information about prehistoric critters, t...more
Informational
Not my cup of tea - dinosaurs just don't do it for me. However, we all know that kids LOVE dinosaurs and are all paleontologists in the making! The book works chronologically, starting with a protozoan from 550 million years ago. Then, with cut and torn paper illustrations, Jenkins shows creatures - or parts of them - in their actual size. Sometimes it is the entire creature and sometimes it is a claw! Filled with lots of great information about prehistoric critters, t...more
Dec 22, 2010
Lisa Vegan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Steve Jenkins fans; those who like nature, dinosaurs & other prehistoric creatures
Recommended to Lisa by:
Chandra
Steve Jenkins is truly a marvel. This book is a sequel to his Actual Size book, another book that’s well worth reading, as are all of his non-fiction science and nature picture books. I’ve read quite a few of them and have enjoyed all that I’ve read, and I’ve learned much from every single one.
I love how with this book the book itself is oversized; it’s really big. And then many of the pages fold out in order to have more page space, and even then, most of the time, only parts of animals are sho...more
I love how with this book the book itself is oversized; it’s really big. And then many of the pages fold out in order to have more page space, and even then, most of the time, only parts of animals are sho...more
This book has depictions of the actual size of prehistoric animals.
Most of the time, a life-size drawing of the animal would not fit onto the pages, so portions of the animals are draw (ex. Head, claw, etc.). The drawings are not realistic, and are really more the author’s artistic works. The author does note that it is impossible to really know what the animals looked like. The main part of the book has pictures with very little information regarding the animals, other than when they lived and...more
Most of the time, a life-size drawing of the animal would not fit onto the pages, so portions of the animals are draw (ex. Head, claw, etc.). The drawings are not realistic, and are really more the author’s artistic works. The author does note that it is impossible to really know what the animals looked like. The main part of the book has pictures with very little information regarding the animals, other than when they lived and...more
This book is such a fun and exciting children's book! It shows the actual size of some prehistoric animals. There are alot of fun facts about these reptiles and dinosaurs. I enjoyed this book becuase it was so interesting to learn about all these anciet animals and also to see how big or small these animals acutally were. This is a very fun book for children!!!
Mommy says: Cool! Pictures of prehistoric animals drawn in actual size. The smaller animals might fit on the page or a two-page spread, but for many of the larger animals, only the head will fit and your imagination has to fill in the rest. We had a ball arranging pillows to represent the missing 10 feet of this animal or that and considering how big they would be.
Age:
Grades 5-12
Genre:
Science fiction/ historical.
Diversity:
Prehistoric animals
Illustrations:
Colored drawings, large fold outs.
Personal response:
Great lesson on prehistoric creatures and their ages. I liked the oversized drawings.
Curricular or programming connections:
This would be a good science lesson for kid in kindergarden.
Grades 5-12
Genre:
Science fiction/ historical.
Diversity:
Prehistoric animals
Illustrations:
Colored drawings, large fold outs.
Personal response:
Great lesson on prehistoric creatures and their ages. I liked the oversized drawings.
Curricular or programming connections:
This would be a good science lesson for kid in kindergarden.
Mar 03, 2013
Cassie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
sizes,
shapes,
animals,
dialogic-reading,
nonfiction,
preschool,
reading,
talking,
toddler,
vocabulary
Ages 3 and up. I think both toddlers and preschoolers would enjoy this book on different levels. It features illustrations of various dinosaurs, or parts of dinosaurs, to scale. It's neat to imagine what it would be like to actually see the dinosaurs at the sizes depicted. There is plenty to talk about as this book is read with children.
My boys both really like this book, I think because #1 It has fold out pages and #2 because it was about dinosaur like creatures. The information inside is a little bit over their heads though since they have no idea what different measurements mean.
Love the paper collage technique, especially the bits of fuzz for eyes and fur (handmade paper?). Kids will absorb the sizes of these ancient, incredible creatures, just as they did with Jenkins' other books.
This is a fascinating book about prehistoric animals, showing them (or at least parts of them) in actual size. I liked that the authors explained what we know (and what we have to guess) about what dinosaurs looked like. And I loved that each dinosaur was shown in its entirety at the end of the book, with a concise paragraph that offers additional information.
The book is simple, but fun; informative, but entertaining, too. We really enjoyed reading this book together and we will have to look fo...more
The book is simple, but fun; informative, but entertaining, too. We really enjoyed reading this book together and we will have to look fo...more
This oversized book introduces you to 16 different prehistoric creatures with a one or two sentence description and a fantastc life sized depiction of what it may have looked like. The pictures are amazing! It looks like tissue paper, feathers, paint, and maybe some card stock. The terror bird was my favorite. Only his head and giant beak would fit on the two page spread...he was big enough to eat a horse!
Towards the end of the book it gets serious and explains how they came to their conclusion...more
Towards the end of the book it gets serious and explains how they came to their conclusion...more
These life-size books are really cool. I bought a similar one for my niece a couple years ago and the adults were all as fascinated as the kids were.
JT enjoyed the lively pictures and size comparisons. However, he became a little bogged down with the drier parts that just stated facts.
fun - maybe too many insects for my taste. Nice collage illustrations, and a good section in the back with more information and detail.
I'm definitely putting this book on hold because I think students will love to hear how big these creatures really were.
Brilliant concept, loved seeing the "actual sizes", nice illustrations, although not necessarily my cup of tea.
Cool to see "actual size" of creatures but the words are pretty complicated to read and listen to. Still a fun book.
This book had great pictures and teaches about prehistoric animals that used to roam the earth!
Children are able to learn about prehistoric animals, as well as visually see the actual size of each animal in the book. The author uses the text in this book to draw children's attention by using intriguing facts about each animal. Children will engage in a way that allows them to share the new facts they have learned with others around them.
*Nonfiction
*Nonfiction
good one
what can I say, this guy IS an AMAZING animal collage artist. they are delightful and the stories are factual and charming. his work delights me.
This one won't stay on the shelf at my school library! The kids just love it.
More fun with size through Jenkins's amazing cut paper illustrations.
all of the actual size books are really neat.
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Oct 10, 2010 02:05pm
Ann, His books are wonderful.
Oct 10, 2010 03:03pm