Why Do Elephants Have Big Ears?: Questions ― and Surprising Answers ― About Animals

by Steve Jenkins, Robin Page

Fascinating "Why" questions about animals, and plenty of new ones, take center stage in the latest book by Caldecott Honor–winning duo Steve Jenkins and Robin Page.

Do you know why a camel has a hump? 
A Zebra has stripes?
Or why wombats have cube-shaped poop?
 
Find out the answers in this fun and beautifully illustrated book, and learn oodles of other intriguing facts about the animal world. It's the perfect gift for any kid who loves animals and is always asking "Why?" because who doesn't want to know why a flamingo stands on one leg?
Steve Jenkins and Robin Page have written and illustrated almost 100 nonfiction children’s books that have sold over 5 million copies between them. Masters at making nonfiction entertaining and visually engaging, their books have won numerous awards and are favorites of kids, parents, and teachers alike.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Animals, Nature, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

Published November 14, 2023

About the author

Steve was born in 1952 in Hickory, North Carolina. His father, who would become a physics professor and astronomer (and recently his co-author on a book about the Solar System), was in the military and, later, working on science degrees at several different universities. We moved often. Steve lived in North Carolina, Panama, Virginia, Kansas, and Colorado. Wherever he lived, he kept a menagerie of lizards, turtles, spiders, and other animals, collected rocks and fossils, and blew things up in his small chemistry lab.

Because he moved often, Steve didn't have a large group of friends, and he spent a lot of time with books. His parents read to him until he could read himself, and he became an obsessive reader.

His interest in science led me to believe that I'd be a scientist himself. At the last minute, he chose instead to go to art school in North Carolina, where he studied graphic design. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he worked in advertising and design, first in large firms and then with his wife, Robin Page, in their own small graphic design firm. Robin, also an author and illustrator, is his frequent collaborator — they've made sixteen children's books together.

Their daughter Page was born in 1986 and our son, Alec, two years later. They began reading to them when they were just a few months old, and Steve became interested in making children's books himself. My wife and I read to our two older children almost every night until hisdaughter was 12 or 13, long after they were reading on their own. It was, in many ways, the best part of the day.

In 1994 they moved to from New York City to Boulder, Colorado, where they work in a studio attached to their house, which was built in the 1880s and often functions as if it were still the 19th century.

Their youngest son, Jamie, was born in 1998. The questions his children asked over the years have been the inspiration for many of their books.

Librarian's Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

First sentence: Why do camels have a hump?

Premise/plot: This is a nonfiction picture book. The title may include the word 'elephant' but the book covers a wide assortment of animals. Some questions and answers are on a single page. Other questions and answers are a two-page spread.

Questions include,
Why do spotted skunks do handstands?
Why do wombats have cube-shaped poop?
Why are naked mole rats naked?

There are SO MANY questions and answers. This one is full of I-didn't-know-that-facts.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. I found some questions super-fascinating. I think this is the kind of book that might prove engaging and appealing to young readers. It is not a book that you have to read cover to cover. It can be a book that you flip through casually. The end material does include [even] more facts about the animals.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Steve Jenkins' art. I was so sad to hear that he had died in January '22. So it was a treat to read a new book by the husband/wife duo that must have already been in the works.
Information about animals is presented in question/answer format. Fascinating facts are relayed along with a silhouette graph comparing each animal's size that that of an adult human.
Text is a little difficult for beginning readers, but the illustrations make the book accessible for all elementary grades.
Reading level P.

[Shae · Rating 1 out of 5]

Genuinely angry at how bad the relative size charts are. I'm sorry, you think chameleons are HOW BIG??? Not even compared to a human child is that correct, and especially not compared to a human adult, which is what the chart appears to be illustrating compared to some other animals depicted. (Not that an empirical value for the human figure is ever given! Which renders the size charts useless even if they weren't incorrect!!) I can't even keep this book in my library. Devastating.

[Nicole Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.

With interesting facts and beautiful illustrations, this book is great for starting animals lovers. My only issue with it is that most of the facts about the animals are at the end of the book and I wish all the facts were on the individual animal pages. Still, its a beautiful reference book for school and public or home libraries.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for curious young children who always question “Why.” Colorful, interesting, engaging and fact filled. Love the little female human being symbol on the side that shows the size of animal in relation to average female human. This figure in other books is almost always portrayed as male. Go, girls!

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as an adult reader for the AR Diamond Book Award. This fun book will have no trouble finding readers. Weird animal facts are the best! The collage-like illustrations are simple on each page and depict exactly what the "weird" fact is. Example: Hippos mark their territory by spreading their poop around with their swishing tail. The picture does is justice...gross justice.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why do bats hang upside down? Why do flamingos stand on one leg? Why do hippos swish their tail when they poop? Why are sloths so slow? This book answers all these questions and more. I appreciate that there is size comparison to humans for each one.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a career Steve Jenkins has had. I think I'll make sure I have everything he's done that is in print. Glorious illustrations, just glorious. The text was just right. Not too short, not too long. Very clear and easy to understand too.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was informative. I actually learned things in this book. The illustrations are well done.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenkins's beloved collage-style illustrations depict a variety of animals and explain how they use their unique adaptations to survive and stay comfortable.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never read a Steve Jenkins book I didn’t like. :)

[Launna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short snippets about a bunch of different animals with a little more info in the back pages.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting information about a random assortment of animals.

[Fairport Public Library]

Children's, January 2024, Lauren S

[skcocnaH · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this book!

[Monica Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I think it is a good learning for book for younger children as well as good book for kids that are working on their reading skills. From reading the title of this book I was not expecting this book to have as much information in it as is did. It was very information and I being an adult still learned new information from reading this book. For any child that loves animals this is a great read.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of fascinating facts about unique animal adaptations.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was fun to ask my 8 year old daughter all the questions.