Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Actual Size - Read Along with Me

I knew this book was coming home with us as soon as I saw it at the library.
 Actual Size by Steve Jenkins has some amazing illustrations.  (Learn more about Steve Jenkins other wonderful science books here.) They're beautiful in their own right, but are especially amazing because all the animals are illustrated at their actual size.

Where else can you see eye to eye with a giant squid?!?
You'll have to excuse his rude expression...it was almost naptime.

Or go head to head with an Alaskan Brown Bear...

Perhaps you'd like to compare something to an ostrich egg?

How far can your tongue stretch?  Probably not as far as a giant anteater.

Want to give a gorilla a high five?  (You can do it with a pygmy mouse lemur too...but you'll cover up the whole lemer and that doesn't make for much of a picture.)

And I certainly wouldn't let Sweet Pea get this close to a REAL tiger.

And you can try comparing feet with an elephant too.

This book doesn't really need a seperate activity...but we did one anyway.  I pulled out our butcher paper again, and traced the kids to make some ACTUAL SIZE drawings of our own.

They loved it.

And if you go back and read The Giant Hug from the beginning of the Read-Along, you can mail your actual size drawing to someone you love.

And to give proper credit, this as the second time my kids did this.  They also did it back in November when Little Brother's birthmom came to visit.  They loved it then too, so we did it again to get more pics.


If you're just now joining us, be sure to visit our Read-Along Archives to see the books we've already read.
Read-Along


I'm linking to:
A Mommy Adventuresabc buttonShibley Smiles
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

12 comments:

  1. Heather @ Camp SlopMarch 8, 2011 at 4:27 PM

    What an AWESOME book! I'm going to have to check my library for this one - I know my kids would get a big kick out of it. :D

    I love that I'm learning about so many new books through your read along - so much fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christianne @ Little Page TurnersMarch 8, 2011 at 5:30 PM

    LOVE that book! So much fun. I've seen it online, but we have yet to check it out. Thanks for the reminder!

    ReplyDelete
  3. frillsfluffandtrucksMarch 8, 2011 at 9:15 PM

    I just went online and placed holds on this book and Good Luck Bear--we'll go pick them up at the library this week. I think my children will enjoy both books. Thanks for the recs!

    ~ Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  4. shawnacyMarch 8, 2011 at 9:25 PM

    i hadn't seen this book yet. so fun! thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beth- the mama beeMarch 9, 2011 at 5:00 AM

    I don't know how I'd never come across that book before. It looks great. I'm going to pick it up for sure. Thanks,

    ReplyDelete
  6. KatieMarch 10, 2011 at 10:41 AM

    Wow, I love this book concept. I will have to see if our library has it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. TheprincessandthetotMarch 10, 2011 at 5:19 PM

    We just saw a similar book at a book fair last week! It wasn't the exact same one, as the photographs were real. I wish I had gotten it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. phasejumperMarch 11, 2011 at 7:39 AM

    Love how you photographed the book with your children!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousMarch 11, 2011 at 1:52 PM

    This such an awesome book! I love the photos of the children posing with it.

    Thanks for linking to Read.Explore.Learn.

    ReplyDelete
  10. MichelleMarch 12, 2011 at 4:13 AM

    I love this book, I purchased it for my nephew from Kohl's 2 years ago for his birthday and kicked myself for not going back to get one for us. I will have to check the library for it, I think Emily would love it! The activity to go with it is absolutely perfect.

    Thank you for linking up to stART :0)

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownMarch 13, 2011 at 8:19 PM

    Thanks again for sharing at the For the Kids Friday Link Party! I look forward to having you back this Friday!

    ReplyDelete
  12. BrianaMarch 15, 2011 at 11:36 AM

    Love it! I'll definitely be back to check out more of your site. Wanna visit me?

    bookwormfun.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I love hearing from you. I also love responding, so please make sure your Blogger account is set up for me to be able to see your email address or include your email address. I've had to stop accepting anonymous comments due to spam. If you don't have any other way to comment, you can always send an email.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)