Biggest, Strongest, Fastest

Brandi Meineke, Collection Development Specialist

9/6/2011 3:48:50 PM
Biggest, Strongest, Fastest is a very adaptable book for younger elementary grades. This nonfiction picture book is all about extreme animals. Which animal is the tallest? What about the smallest? Fastest? Slowest? This book has all the answers to these questions and more. Within these 32 pages I learned several facts about the animal kingdom, some of which awed me and some gave me shivers and goose bumps. Any kid who loves learning about animals will enjoy this very readable book.

Teachers could easily adapt this book to be a read aloud for a whole class. Every animal has a simple sentence that tells the main fact about it. For example: “The largest kind of spider is the bird spider.” The illustration of the bird spider is gigantic, legs falling off the edge of the page. A single rumpled feather gives a visual clue as to what was just for dinner.

If the book is not being used as a read aloud, then there is an additional blurb of information on each page. From this we find out that the bird spider is poisonous and measures about a foot across (hence the shivers and goose bumps!). Then below that information is a small silhouette of the spider next to a human hand to compare for size. Each animal discussed in this book has this supplemental information. To read each blurb during a read aloud may be a bit tedious and distracting, but could be used as encouragement for a student to explore further during independent reading time. If they would like to learn more about the animals, all they have to do is pick it up and read.

The large illustrations are beautifully done in a collage style. The animals look very appropriately textured. Before I could help it, I ran my hand over the picture of the elephant, half expecting to feel the lovely wrinkles. The imagery also reinforces the fact being highlighted. The tallest animal is a giraffe. His neck ducks low to get his knobby head into frame. One flea has jumped halfway off of the page reserved for the highest jumper. The sun jellyfish and blue whale both impede on other pages because they are both too sizeable to possibly fit into their own space.

I would definitely recommend this versatile book for all younger elementary classrooms. The illustrations will keep pre-readers mesmerized. The simple, yet engaging, facts will keep the early readers fascinated and curious. Who knows? With shivers up their spine, maybe the adults will learn a thing or two also, be it what the largest spider has for dinner or which rodent is small enough to sleep in a teaspoon. One thing is for sure, Biggest, Fastest, Strongest is a lovely book that is as entertaining as it is informative.