What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

Bibliographic Information:

Jenkins, S. & Page, R. (2003). What do you do with a tail like this?  Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

 

Genre/Type: Non-fiction picture book

 

Summary: This book discusses how animals use various parts of their bodies (nose, ears, tail, eyes, feet, and mouth) to survive. The book is setup in a way that introduces various animals' noses, ears, tails, etc. without showing the whole animal and asks the reader to guess what animal each body part belongs to. On the following page, the authors explain how each animal uses said specific body part. The book continues as it introduces body part after body part, introducing a total of thirty animals. There is an extended section at the end of the book which offers readers more information on the animals that were introduced.

 

Theme/Purpose: The book is introduced by body part in an effort to explain to the reader how different animals' characteristics benefit them. These special adaptations allow the animals to survive. The purpose of the authors is to allow the reader to understand that animals all have similar body parts, but these can have a vast number of functions depending on the animal. 

 

Selection/Evaluation: I selected this book because I wanted to focus on animal adaptations and this book clearly shows students how different animals have adapted to meet their needs. The lizard can break off his tail to get away from predators, the pelican uses its mouth to scoop up fish; these animals have adapted their characteristics to allow for optimal survival. This book is excellent for students to read on their own or for the teacher to read to the class.