Prehistoric Actual Size

Children fascinated by Jenkins' vibrant cut-paper artwork in Actual Size won't want to miss this similiar oversize album of prehistoric creatures that range from tiny to enormous.

Stunning paper collage illustrations provide artistic interpretations of what each animal may have looked like.

PreS-Gr 5 -The exciting artistic presentation that worked so well in "Actual Size" (Houghton, 2004) is equally successful when applied to prehistoric creatures. Progressing chronologically from a dot-sized protozoan of 550 million years ago, Jenkins has chosen the animals and the portions of them to depict to great effect. Cut- and torn-paper figures reveal texture and delicate details, from the long wings of an early dragonfly to the feathered tuft of an eight-foot terror bird. A three-inch spiny shark stands out distinctly against a page of white space, while less than half of a giant millipede barely fits across two pages. A series of foldout pages reveals one complete small dinosaur ("Saltopus"), the impressive beak and head of a flying reptile ("Dsungaripterus"), and the thick claw of a fish-eating dinosaur ("Baryonyx"). Besides the sheer visual impact, the illustrations often highlight features mentioned in the brief text, such as the sharp beak of "Protoceratops". Closing pages offer more information about each species, along with spot illustrations that provide the full-body view necessarily lacking from many of the actual-size renderings. Only 5 of the 17 animals are actual dinosaurs, and the inclusion of mammals, insects, and other groups emphasizes the diversity of life forms over this vast prehistoric span. The largest animal shown is also the most dramatic: the top and bottom teeth of "Giganotosaurus" fill an entire spread. Sure to elicit plenty of -Wows - from the 560's aisle." -Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.