Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - Superlative Animals 6.13.18

Artwork by Sarah S. Brannen ©2017

Every Wednesday I join Alyson Beecher from kidlitfrenzy and other

kidlit bloggers to share wonderful nonfiction picture books.

The intention of today's blog post is to give professionals that work in the
education field new nonfiction reading material and ideas to use 

with students to promote a love of reading nonfiction materials.

What a fun series Steve Jenkins has put together.  Looking at superlatives - the "est" of animals - deadliest, trickiest, stinkiest and speediest!

There are four books in the series (so far) and each one is packed with information, with additional info in text features.  Each book starts with a table of contents, so if readers want to look for a specific animal, they can search that way.  

Next comes a general overview of the book and its focus.  Jenkins typically focuses on how each animal uses its "super power" to its advantage - maybe it's for protection, to obtain food, for survival.  By covering this in the intro, readers know a little more about the organization.

Each page gives information about the animal and talks about how they use their advantage to help them specifically.  There is a map included for each animal to see where it lives - and I'm really happy not too many are found in the US!  Especially those deadly creatures!  There is also a size comparison chart so readers can see how it compares to an average human male.  Most animals also have a fun fact included on each page.

My favorite comes at the end - each book has some kind of graph that shows some comparisons.  Some of them are bubble maps which show which animals use their super power for protection, hunting, and survival.  I liked seeing the information laid out like that - the visual piece is important to include!

Jenkins also includes a glossary and additional sources.

The size of these books are a bit smaller than his usual books.  I think that will appeal to readers who don't want to be overwhelmed with information.  

I highly recommend having these books in your primary and elementary classrooms and libraries.  I will continue to add this series in mine!