Steve Jenkins
Recognized in the Creative Minds Montessori 2026 Teacher’s Choice list.
Steve Jenkins is one of roughly one hundred authors whose work was selected by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list — 120 books chosen across four reading stages, from first lap-reads to first chapter books. The selected book was chosen for how precisely it meets children at a real developmental moment. This recognition cannot be bought: no author or publisher paid to appear on our lists, and we take no commission on any book sale.
About Steve Jenkins
Steve Jenkins (1952–2021) made cut-paper collage so precise it reads as scientific illustration; his Caldecott Honor book What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? and dozens more brought real zoology to picture-book shelves.
The son of a physicist, Jenkins planned on science before art school claimed him — and then spent his career fusing the two, building every animal from hand-torn paper with data-checked accuracy.
Also by this author: What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? · Biggest, Strongest, Fastest · Down, Down, Down
Publisher page: www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/steve-jenkins
Selected for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list
Part of The Best Children’s Books by Age, chosen by the teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX.