Prehistoric Actual Size

Collage style illustrations show prehistoric animals in actual size. Each animal featured also shown fully with a descriptive paragraph about how the animal lived and what it looked like. There is also a brief explanation about how scientists know what these creatures look like.

Classroom

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connection: This would be a fun book to look at while learning about collage in art. It also fits into a dinosaur/prehistoric time unit. Could be used for research with 3-5th graders, some readers might need help with the words.

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This book portrays the actual size or part of it of prehistoric animals. The artwork is made from collages and portray the animals being discussed. The book gives children an idea of what it was like to live in this time or be surrounded by such animals.

This is a non-fiction book that introduces the reader to some prehistoric animals that they most likely have never heard of before. It emphasizes the animals’ sizes, ranging from microscopic to the size of a bus. The timeframe of when the animals lived is also given for each animal. There are

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some dinosaurs included in the book, but it also features birds, fish, insects, amphibians, and mammals. The back section briefly describes how we learn about prehistoric animals from fossils, and then offers more info about each animal.

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I loved this book! I learned so much about the different animals of the prehistoric times and it was so effective to see things in actual size! I definitely now have some new respect for animals of that time! Wow! Some of them were giant, and this book gave me the understanding of what that means.

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The actual size of these some of these animals is no longer so abstract.

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Retelling: The illustrations of prehistoric animals in this book are actual size. Some of the animals, such as the cockroach, still roam the earth, others are extinct. All of the animals are peculiar sizes.

Thoughts and Feelings... I have seen millipedes in my bathtub before, but they were no bigger

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than my hand. The millipede featured in this book, was 6 1/2 feet, larger than two pages of the book! Woh!

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With torn paper collages, Steve Jenkins shows us what prehistoric creatures or part of them may have looked like in actual size. This would be a good book for a lesson on prehistoric animals, and we can compare the animals that existed then to what exists now and see if any animals look like they

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evolved from them.

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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

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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, giganotosaurus, etc.

I liked that Jenkins organizes the various creatures according to the number of hundred million years ago that they thrived.

Let's be honest here. These beasties have a lot of potential to be terrifying. They are the beasties of nightmares. When sharing this with early grade school kids, I think it'd be VERY important to remind students that these beasties no longer exist at the size pictured, that we should all be grateful that the millipede and cockroaches evolved to be much smaller. I know I'm very thankful for this. (Although, the cockroach could still go smaller and I wouldn't complain. I find the occasional dead one in the halls where my office is. I usually take pictures of them on my phone and send the images to my parents. Cause I'm an awesome daughter like that.)

To keep the illustrations interesting, Jenkins usually only shows a portion of the ancient beasties. In some cases, this includes only a head or a claw. This also helps to impress upon the reader the size of these creatures.

The text describing each animal in minimal, often only reinforcing the image that is being shown.

Dinner Conversation:

"Animals have lived on earth for hundreds of millions of years. Dragonflies the size of seagulls, meat-eating dinosaurs bigger than a bus, giant flying reptiles, fierce predatory birds eight feet tall--they all appeared, thrived for millions of years, and then died out as the world changed around them."

"Diplocaulus was a meat-eating amphibian. Its horns may have helped it glide through the water."

"This giant millipede had as many as thirty pairs of legs."

"Giganotosaurus may have been the largest predator that ever lived on land."

"The terror bird lived in South America. It was the largest predator of its time--big enough to eat a horse."

To Go with the Meal:

Prehistoric Actual Size can be used to help students understand the concept of prehistoric time (paying special attention to reinforce the idea that these big (and in a few cases small) beasties aren't wandering around the cities and suburbs looking for tasty kiddies to eat).

Looking at the illustrations, a teacher can encourage the students to think about how the creatures would feel to the touch, or could have them research the animals more thoroughly beginning with the glossary of animals at the end and moving to other books or online.

To go a creative route, middle grade students could pretend to have one of the animals as a pet. They could write a story describing how they would care for their prehistoric creature and in some cases keep the animal or other people safe.

Tasty Rating: !!!

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I really enjoyed this book. I loved that it had actual size pictures because young students would be amazed and excited to see prehistoric creatures closer to their actual size as opposed to small figurines and cartoon shows. This book has vibrant colors which is great for visual learners and

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plenty facts for those who learn orally. This book can also be used for older students because the back of the book contains further descriptions of the creatures listed in the book. Overall great book and can't wait to share it with students!

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I like “Prehistoric Actual Size” because I think it is a fun and engaging book for children in Kindergarten or younger. The main purpose of this book is to show the actual sizes of prehistoric animals. Children would be engaged and interested at the illustrations of this book. It is exciting to

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see and learn about animals that do not exist anymore. Since the pictures are the actual size of the animals and their body part, children would be motivated to read the book. For example, there is one page that shows the claw of a Baryonyx, and the claw takes up two whole pages. “Prehistoric Actual Size” would not be complete without its pictures. This book could easily become an interactive story as well. I also appreciated how the book's language is clear. Every single picture had short explanations of the illustrations. For example, for the Baryonx the text says, “Baryonyx (bar-ee-on-iks) means 'heavy claw.' This fish-eating dinosaur used its huge claws to help catch and hold its slippery prey.” This book is an engaging and informational piece of literature.

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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.

Holy cow!  A millipede 2 ft long?!  A dinosaur that looks like a slimmer T-Rex, but easily fits on a three-page spread?!  And then the only part of Baryonyx that fits on a two-page spread is it's foot!  And keep reading after the 'more information' notes, so you don't miss the rodent with claws

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and horns....  goodness.  When I give a book five stars, that means that I think *everyone* should (would be glad to) read this.  And so this gets that rating, and I will encourage my family to read it, too.

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I thought this was a fun way to gain perspective on how big (and small!) dinosaurs were.