Tiny Monsters

September 1, 2020
Illustrations based on microscope images reveal a world of fantastic, sometimes frightening-looking creatures who share our world. Jenkins' familiar collage illustrations, set on stark backgrounds, seem ideally suited for display of the monsters in miniature described in this latest offering. From the alien-appearing thistle mantis to the roly-poly tardigrade, he gives readers multiple views of faces, feelers, teeth, and claws, all highly enlarged; the creature's overall appearance; and its original size. There are worms that live inside us, mites that live on our outsides, insects that bite us, and intriguing creatures whose lives have nothing obvious to do with ours, including a marine scale worm that lives at a volcanic vent deep in the Pacific Ocean. Each is introduced with a lighthearted headline ("It's a Sleepover!" for the house dust mites that live in pillows and bed linens). Most creatures get a single page; a few get a full double-page spread. The extent of enlargement is always noted; some actual sizes are too small to see. An illustrator's note explains that the electron microscope images are black and white; the illustrator used color "to highlight the forms and details" of the microscopic creatures; but the dragon springtail's blue body and orange spines are accurate. Alas, the book has no page numbers, but the thumbnail images accompanying further information on each critter in the backmatter correspond to the order in which the animals appear. Another impressive outing by a popular pair. (Informational picture book. 4-10)

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October 26, 2020
This sophisticated illustrated guide to the “world of tiny, fantastic creatures that we seldom notice” provides zoomed-in views (each illustration notes the magnification) of bristly textures, jointed legs, intimidating pinchers, and eyes alongside “actual size” illustrations and brief text snippets that note remarkable facts. The pages feature creatures familiar (deer ticks, head lice, cat fleas) and more esoteric (armored snout mites, dragon springtails), rendered in Jenkins’s cut-and-torn paper collage style and presented crisply against empty backgrounds. While the creatures’ brilliant colors “aren’t always realistic” (a footnote explains that the images are based on black-and-white electron microscope images), their strange, surreal, and sometimes alarming forms mesmerize. The text provides just enough substance to spark readers’ fascination with these “tiny monsters” that live alongside humans. Includes a closing infographic with “More Tiny Monster Facts.” Ages 6–9.

November 1, 2020
Grades K-3 Jenkins and Page introduce readers to 24 tiny creatures that live outdoors, in our houses, and on our bodies. Using brief text and multiple visual perspectives, they present organisms such as the dragon springtail (a rain forest-floor dweller that feeds on molds and plants), the common furniture beetle (which eats wooden household items), marine scale worms (which live near volcanic vents on the ocean floor), and eyelash mites (harmless arthropods living at the base of human eyelashes). Jenkins' cut-and-torn-paper collages (some highly magnified) are particularly effective in depicting minute features that would not be visible with the naked eye. He uses striking color combinations that will draw in young readers, although he admits they may not be accurate, as his sources (electron micrographs) depict only black and white. While a few of these tiny monsters may be familiar (fleas, mosquitoes, deer ticks, head lice), most will be new to readers. Appended with additional information on each species, this will be welcomed in primary science units, and browsers will appreciate its ""yuck"" factor.

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