Next Walk

What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?

Suggested Activities

For Parents and Caregivers

This book is wonderful to spark discussion with children about the amazing things animals can do with eyes, ears, mouths, noses, feet, and tails. Written by Steven Jenkins and illustrator Robin Page this book was first published in 2003 and was a winner of multiple awards including a Caldecott Honor in 2004. The Caldecott is one of the highest honors for illustration in children’s books.

Steve Jenkins was born in 1952 and passed away in 2021. As a child, his family moved frequently due to his father’s career as a physics professor and astronomer. They lived in Wichita for a while when his father was teaching at Wichita State University. Over his career, Mr. Jenkins wrote and art-directed more than 50 books, many of them with his wife, Ms. Page. They sold over 4 million copies and were translated into 19 languages.

“Wherever we lived,” he wrote on his website, “I maintained a small menagerie of lizards, turtles, spiders, and other animals. I collected rocks and fossils. I built a chemistry lab in which many frightful smells and loud explosions were produced. With my father’s help, I assembled radios, electric motors, and other contraptions. I also spent a lot of time with books.”

More Books Like This