Book Review of WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A TAIL LIKE THIS?

Bibliography:

Jenkins, Steve and Robin Page. 2003. What do you do with a tail like this? Ill. by Steve Jenkins. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0618256288


Summary:

Steve Jenkins and Robin Page tell about the different ways that animals use their noses, ears, tails, eyes, feet, and mouths in What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? The reader is presented with a question, such as “What do you do with ears like these?” and then the reader can guess what the animal is and what it might do with its ears before turning the page to discover the answers. Additional information about each animal is provided at the back of the book.


Critical Analysis:

Usually it’s children who ask adults questions, but in What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?, Jenkins and Page switch the tables and ask their readers the questions. This strategy is successful because it encourages children to become actively involved with the book. Children of all ages enjoy the challenge of guessing which animal the tail, eyes, mouth, ears, or feet belong to and what the animal does with it. To make children more willing to play, the authors have included both common and unusual animals throughout the book. This ensures that children will guess correctly some of the time. For instance, when presented with a skunk’s tail, the reader can correctly identify it and its use. Even though the authors include familiar animals such as rabbits, giraffes and hippos, they provide unique facts that children may not know. For example, most children have seen a hippopotamus at the zoo, but how many know that “if you’re a hippopotamus, you close your ears when you’re under water.” To further challenge their readers, the authors have included less common creatures as well, such as the archerfish, the platypus, and the bush baby. However, it won’t take them long before they are familiar with these animals, because children will want to read and reread this fun book until they can answer all the questions correctly.

Jenkins and Page keep the book simple with alternating two page layouts - one asking a question and the next providing the answers. This arrangement allows the book to flow without getting bogged down in too many details. Readers can enjoy the illustrations and learn one basic fact about each animal. For the majority of children, this is enough, but there is always a child or two who wants to know more. The authors have predicted this, so they included a section “at the back of the book (where) you can find out more about these animals.” If the child desires to learn more, he can read the additional information. The authors have arranged the back section in the same order as the information is presented in the book. A small picture of each animal is included next to a paragraph telling where the animal is usually found, how big it is, and a few additional facts. For instance, the paragraph on field crickets reveals that crickets chirp faster when it is warmer and that “counting the number of chirps in 15 seconds and adding 40 gives a fairly accurate temperature reading (in degrees Fahrenheit).” Facts, such as this, satisfy children’s curiosity and also motivate them to read and learn more about the creatures which interest them.

In addition to the format used in this book, the illustrations play a large part in the enjoyment of What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? Steve Jenkins illustrated this book using cut-paper collage. The illustrations of the various animals are beautiful, capturing the details of each in a life-like manner. Jenkin’s horned lizard appears almost three-dimensional as if the horns on its back would hurt if you ran a finger over them, and his depiction of the chimpanzee’s foot is so real that it could be mistaken for a photograph. After viewing each of the collages, it is easy to see why this book won a Caldecott Honor Award. Jenkins further highlights his artwork by creatively positioning the illustrations on each page. On the question pages, the featured body part is the focus. For example, on the “what do you do with a mouth like this?” page, each creature’s mouth is prominently displayed. You can see the mouths of a mosquito, a snake, a pelican, an anteater, and an archerfish. This close-up view allows the reader to investigate the uniqueness of each body part, and it aids in guessing what its purpose might be. The “answer” page reveals a full body image of each animal with the answer cleverly arranged by it. For instance, the pelican appears to make a wave of “If you’re a pelican, you use your mouth as a net to scoop up fish.” This is a perfect way to add emphasis to what the pelican is doing and to draw attention to the animal itself.

What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? is destined to be a favorite with children of all ages. The guessing game and delightful illustrations will keep readers entertained as they learn about the various creatures highlighted. It will never get old, because once a reader “knows it all” he can share it with others who might not. By introducing children to informational reading through an entertaining book, Jenkins and Page ensure that children will be more likely to reach for a nonfiction book to read for learning as well as for pleasure.


Review Excerpts:

Winner of ALA Notable Books for Children Award, 2004

Winner of Caldecott Honor Award, 2004

School Library Journal (October 2004) - “Colorful cut-paper collages provide glimpses of the noses, ears, tails, eyes, mouths, and feet of different creatures, showing that each one uses these body parts in a unique and fascinating manner. Combining a guessing game with factual tidbits, the text offers an attention-grabbing introduction to animal physiology.”

Publisher’s Weekly (March 2003) - “Steve Jenkins contributes another artistically wrought, imaginatively conceived look at the natural world. What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Jenkins and wife Robin Page, stages a guessing game. Illustrated with Jenkins' trademark cut-paper art, one spread will show animals' tails (or noses, ears, etc.) as text asks variations of the titular question; turn the page, and the whole bodies of the animals are shown as answers are supplied ("If you're a lizard, you break off your tail to get away"; "If you're a scorpion, your tail can give a nasty sting"). Four pages of illustrated endnotes deliver meaty profiles of the 30 featured creatures.”

Booklist (February 2003) - “Here's another exceptional cut-paper science book from Jenkins, this time put together with a partner, and like previous books, it's a stunner. An opening page, clearly explaining how to use the book, is followed by a double-page spread picturing the mouths of several different animals, accompanied by the question, "What do you do with a mouth like this?" . . . This is a striking, thoughtfully created book with intriguing facts made more memorable through dynamic art.”


Connections:

Have students create cut-paper collages of their favorite animal.


Read other Steve Jenkins’ books about animals and discuss the concepts he covers in each book. What makes each book unique? What common elements can be found in all of Jenkins’ books?

BIG AND LITTLE. ISBN 0395726646

BIGGEST, STRONGEST, FASTEST. ISBN 0395697018

LIVING COLOR. ISBN 9780618708970

MOVE! ISBN 06186437x

SLAP, SQUEAK AND SCATTER: HOW ANIMALS COMMUNICATE.
ISBN 0618033769

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMETHING WANTS TO EAT YOU?
ISBN 0395825148


The first two books listed above could be used in a Language Arts lesson about comparisons and superlatives.


The books, LIVING COLOR and WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMETHING WANTS TO EAT YOU?, can be used in a Science lesson to study adaptation and camouflage.


Read other books about animals’ physiology, such as:

Compass Point Books. ANIMAL SENSES. ISBN 9780756510404

Fowler, Allan. KNOWING ABOUT NOSES. ISBN 0516208101

Heller, Ruth. CHICKENS AREN’T THE ONLY ONES. ISBN 978069811785

Morgan, Sally. ANIMALS AND THEIR WORLD. ISBN 0753450348

Todo, Kyoko and Akira Satoh. ANIMAL FACES. ISBN 9780916291624

Zoehfield, Kathleen W. WHAT LIVES IN A SHELL? ISBN 9780064451246