Overview: Artist Steve Jenkins combines cut-paper collage with amazing animal facts to create dynamic nonfiction picture books that appeal to readers of many ages. 

Steve Jenkins. Illustration from How Many Ways Can You Catch a Fly?, 2008. Written by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Did you know that the tailorbird, using her sharp beak and silk from a spider’s web, sews a leaf into a pouch that will hold her nest and eggs? In Biggest, Strongest, Fastest, Jenkins presents such facts with awe and reverence, while in Brothers and Sisters he presents equally compelling tidbits about animal siblings. (Did you know that nine-banded armadillos are always born as quadruplets and that whiptail lizards are all females?) Actual Size allows kids to put their hands over the life-sized hand of a gorilla or peer into the eye of a giant squid. The artist often uses handmade paper to capture the various textures and colors of animal skin, creating an added sense of dimensionality. Original pictures from seven books are on view in this exhibition, allowing visitors to compare the original artworks to the illustrations in the picture books—all while learning fun facts to share with classmates and friends.