Who am I? An Animal Guessing Game book review

Bibliography

Jenkins, Steve. 2017. Who am I?: An Animal Guessing Game. Ill.by Robin Page. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780544935396

Plot Summary
Jenkins and Page allow children to predict an animal based on certain clues before the animal is revealed. The first two pages show clues that describe a certain animal before showing a two-page spread of the animal that was being described in the following page. For example, the first pages read: “I have a pink and black beak, bright, colorful feathers, two skinny legs, [...], Who am I?”, and the following page says “I’m a flamingo!” with a picture of a flamingo. This is done throughout the book with other animals such as a frog, owl, and monkey. The end of the book includes pages of facts for each animal that was discussed in the book. These facts include “Where do I live?”, “An interesting fact about me?”, and “How big am I?”, thus entertaining and informing the readers.

Critical Analysis
With this book, there is always more to learn. Whether an early reader is using this to read basic information about common animals, or someone who is familiar with these animals is trying to learn more information, this book provides a unique learning experience with images that not only catch the attention of the readers but also inform them. The focus of this book is clear: to inform the reader about the animals as much as possible. This is done by the typical images of the animals that assist the identification of them. For example, instead of using an image of a toad or a rare frog, the book includes an image of a common green frog. Along with this, the organization of the images helps draw the attention of the reader to learn, understand, and compute what the animal is before having it revealed to them. This can be seen through the order of the animal’s various parts and attributes, such as their legs being on one side of the page and their food choice placed on the next page. Also, white backgrounds allow the viewer to concentrate on the different aspects of the animal and not obstruct their concentration in identifying them. Lastly, the dialogue within the book is simple and is kept at a minimal length. In doing so, it allows the reader to have a clear focus throughout the book while they view the images and construct an image of what the animal is.

Review Excerpt(s)

• The Horn Book: “Each statement uses descriptive and encourages age-appropriate scientific and mathematical observation: children are encouraged to count, characterize, and identify as they encounter each clue” (November 1, 2017).

Connections

• This book can be used for children of many ages, especially for beginner readers.
• This book can be used in a classroom with young readers to practice reading skills such as inferencing and/or predicting.
• This would be a great book for bilingual students or ELs (English learners) who are not very familiar with the English language since the words are simple and there is a lot of visual help throughout the book.
• Students can create a “Did you know?” display to put in the classroom or library.