Biggest, Strongest, Fastest

Jenkins, Steve. 1995. Biggest, Strongest, Fastest. New York: Ticknor & Fields Books for Young Readers.

Plot Summary:
In Biggest, Strongest, Fastest, Steve Jenkins introduces children to "fourteen members of the animal kingdom" that are all the best at a unique characteristic. Using interesting facts and paper collage illustrations, Jenkins' informational text teaches young children about these animals with facts they can relate to like comparing the size of an animal to a teaspoon, or the span of another's jump to a tall building.

Critical Analysis:

Young children are endlessly fascinated with the world around them and the animals in it. Biggest, Strongest, Fastest uses a child's natural curiosity about animals to teach them the facts of particular animals by teaching young children about characteristics unique to that animal that it is the best at in the animal world.

The book begins with African elephants: They're the biggest land animal in the world. To help children relate to this fact, at the bottom the page, Jenkins includes a brief blurb about the largest elephant ever (13 feet tall and 22,000 pounds) and how much an elephant eats every day. The nuggets of information are small enough for a young reader to remember about their favorite animal, and these little facts are presented in a way that are appealing to the reader and do not interfere with the main text of the page.

The reader's eyes are drawn to the information by small, black, ink-blot like illustrations on the page. The illustrations depict the animal in comparison to whatever piece of information is presented about the animal. For example, the sun jellyfish is placed next to a tiny speck of a human to emphasize for a young reader how long the sun jellyfish is (200 feet long, by the way).

The animals themselves are illustrated in a colorful paper collage technique against a background color designed to for the image to pop against the page. The giraffe, beautifully colored in beige and brown, is on a background of green; the multi-colored bee hummingbird drinks from a red flower against a backdrop of sky blue. The animal illustrations dominate the pages, but they do not overwhelm the reader. The illustrations, facts, and ink-blot illustrations all blend together to create a wonderful, fun way for youngsters to learn more about the animals they love.

At the end of the book, Jenkins provides a chart of the animals discussed throughout, the facts of each one, and adds their diets, and where the animal's natural habitat is. At the beginning of the book, Jenkins provides a bibliography of sources for the information found throughout the text. The sources prove the book to be well researched and accurate.

Review Excerpts:

"Large, clear print; fascinating facts; and beautiful, detailed, cut-paper collages make this excellent title a delight. One main fact is presented per spread about each of 14 animals, e.g., "The Etruscan shrew, the world's smallest mammal, could sleep in a teaspoon." Two more relevant facts are given in smaller print. Silhouette drawings show comparative sizes?the blue whale is shown next to an adult human. The realistic, inventive, textured illustrations, mostly double spreads, flow smoothly from page to page. A helpful chart at the end contains further information about each creature, such as diet and habitat. An all-round superlative effort." School Library Journal, Jan Shepherd Ross, Dixie Elementary Magnet School, Lexington, KY

"Beautiful double-page-spread cut-paper collages illustrate a picture book about "some of the biggest and smallest, fastest and slowest, strongest and longest" record holders in the animal world. The facts are amazing. Their juxtaposition makes you gasp, not just about size and speed but about comparative wonders. Right after the African elephant, which eats more than 300 pounds of grass and leaves every day, there's a close-up two-page picture of an ant, which turns out to be the strongest animal for its size: it can carry five times its own weight. The book's design makes it accessible at many levels. The youngest can identify the various creatures. Preschoolers can enjoy the one-sentence descriptions in large type ("The cheetah can run faster than any other animal. . . . The flea is very small, but it is the world's best jumper"). Older kids will love thinking about the additional facts regarding scale and proportion that are printed in small type, accompanied by a tiny silhouette in the corner of each picture ("If a 5 1/2-foot-tall woman could jump as well as a flea, she could leap to the top of a 65-story building"). Here's proof that power isn't just about size and that science can be a lot of fun." Booklist, Hazel Rochman

Awards:

1998 Washington Children's Choice Picture Book

Connections:

This book would make an excellent companion for young children prior to a trip to the zoo. Children, whether they've been to the zoo before or not, would all benefit from the facts of the novel before a visit.

Inviting a zookeeper or wildlife expert to speak to children is another way this book could be used. I've been to several children's birthday parties where the parents have hired a wildlife expert to come speak to the kids and bring along some animals to show the children. Not only were the kids fascinated by the information and pictures the expert brought with her, but the hands on experience of the animals reinforced what they learned.

Biggest, Strongest, Fastest lends itself to a "did you know" display. Whether in a teacher's classroom or in a library, a display of the animals in the book along with some of the facts would be very effective and engaging. The display would draw children to it and would educate them with the facts from the book.