"What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?"

Author: Robin Page
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins
Houghton Mufflin Company, 2003
Picture Book
Grade K-3
Caldecott Honor Book

This picture book explores the many different animals and what each animal uses their sense organs for. It begins by asking "what you do with a nose like this?" It then proceeds on to ears, tail, eyes, feet, and tongue. Each page asks a question, "What do you do with __________ like these?" The next page provides the answer to the question for the different animals. When one finishes the book, the last four pages are the animals and more information about them.

I had never read or even heard of this book until now. I thought it was a cute book. It is a book that a teacher could use with any age group. I think the illustrations in this book are remarkable. It looks as though the animals are real and you could touch the book and be touching the animals. Jenkins uses cut-paper collages which enables the audience to see teh different textures of the animals. For example, the elephant's trunk looks rough and rigid much like it would if you were standing there looking at a real elephant. I think it is remarkable that Steve Jenkins goes all over the world looking for the different colors and types of paper. The pages aren't completely covered with text or pictures which I think really help keep the audience's attention. I also like how each illustration ties in with the text.

I think this book could be used for any grade but would probably be more appreciated from Kindergarten up to the third grade. This book would be great to use when studying different types of animals. The last four pages that tell more information about the animals could be very informative for the students. For kindergarten and first grade a teacher could use this book to teach how to ask a question and then give an appropriate response. Overall, I enjoyed this book and will probably use it one day in my classroom.