What do you do with a Tail like this?

Author/Illustrator: Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

Published by: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003

Genre: Picture Book, Informational

Age Range: k-2

Caldecott Honor Book 2004

This book teaches kids unique facts about different animals. First it shows pictures of body parts and asks what is does. For example, it shows a bunch of different tails and asks, "what do you do with a tail like this?" This gives the child the opportunity to guess what animal each belongs to and try to figure out what they use it for. The next page answers the question and gives a cool fact about the animals. At the end of the book there is more information about each animal.

The best thing about this book, to me, is the illustrations. I absolutely love the cut paper. I love the idea of illustrations that aren't just drawings or paintings like we usually see. I took a fibers class where we made paper and I wish I had known about this illustrator then. I also love the way the words are arranged on the page. For example, the words about the skunk look like they spray out when he lifts his tail, or the sentence about the lizard is broken in two just like his tail.

It would be so much fun to have a drawer or bin specifically for collecting interesting paper scraps. Whenever you are at the art store or on vacation and see a unique piece of paper you could buy it and keep it there. This could be implemented in the classroom or at home to help provide and inspire kids and adults alike to be creative. When they have an idea of what they want to make they know exactly where to go to get the materials, and if they want to make something but don't know what they could use the paper to inspire them.

This book could be incorporated into classrooms of many age levels. The words might be juvenile for older students but the illustrations of cut paper are interesting to anyone. In a class where students are learning to make their own paper this could be an excellent way to show them what can be done with this paper. They wouldn't have to do animals, they could go further with the concept and create whatever they wanted.