By clicking “Accept,” you agree to the use of cookies and similar technologies on your device as set forth in our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy. Please note that certain cookies are essential for this website to function properly and do not require user consent to be deployed.

Why Do Elephants Have Big Ears?

Questions — and Surprising Answers — About Animals

Contributors

By Steve Jenkins

By Robin Page

Formats and Prices

Price

$18.99

Price

$23.99 CAD

Format

Hardcover

Format:

Hardcover $18.99 $23.99 CAD

Fascinating “Why” questions about animals, and plenty of new ones, take center stage in the latest book by Caldecott Honor–winning duo Steve Jenkins and Robin Page.

Do you know why a camel has a hump? 
A Zebra has stripes?
Or why wombats have cube-shaped poop?

Find out the answers in this fun and beautifully illustrated book, and learn oodles of other intriguing facts about the animal world. It’s the perfect gift for any kid who loves animals and is always asking “Why?” because who doesn’t want to know why a flamingo stands on one leg?

Steve Jenkins and Robin Page have written and illustrated almost 100 nonfiction children’s books that have sold over 5 million copies between them. Masters at making nonfiction entertaining and visually engaging, their books have won numerous awards and are favorites of kids, parents, and teachers alike.

On Sale
Nov 14, 2023
Page Count
40 pages
ISBN-13
9780316456791

Steve Jenkins

About the Author

Steve Jenkins grew up in Columbia, Missouri. Upon graduation from high school he moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting. That was in 1973. While waiting for his big break into show-biz, he took a job in a cheese store. After a year he became manager, but he found retail rote; two years and a couple of minor soap opera roles later, he was fired for telling the owner he was in the store when he was actually in his apartment. Jenkins then met Joel Dean and Giorgio DeLuca, and became their first employee. He created a new sensory experience by liberating cheese from the confines of a refrigerator case at the now legendary Dean & DeLuca specialty food shop. He built pyramids of cheese atop the counter using hundreds of pounds of orange, rock-hard, aged Goudas. He used slabs of Carrara marble and wooden cutting boards to display Bries and heaped Pillivuyt porcelain souffle dishes with fresh goat cheese sprinkled with herbs and drizzled with olive oil. The more Steven learned about cheese, the more he realized that this country was sorely lacking in its selection of truly great cheeses. So he went to France in search of “real” cheese. On his return, his shipments from Rungis began to arrive–cheese the likes of which had never been tasted before in New York. Real Brie from Brie, and real Camembert from Normandy. The next six years he traveled frequently throughout the cheese-producing regions of France, Switzerland and Italy. Jenkins has created and/or revamped the cheese counters at Dean & DeLuca, the Fairway Market, Balducci’s, and other celebrated fine food shops in New York and across the country. He has rejoined the Fairway Market. Jenkins was the first American to be awarded France’s prestigious Chevalier du Taste Fromage and is frequent contibutor to Food Arts, Food & Wine, and the Gourmet Retailer. Since the publication of Cheese Primer in November 1996, Steve Jenkins has become a regular commentator on the National Public Radio Program The Splendid Table, and he was the recipient of the prestigious James Beard Award in the reference category for this book.

Learn more about this author

Robin Page

About the Author

Robin Page has written and illustrated several picture books including many with her husband, Steve Jenkins. These include the Caldecott Honor winner What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?, Creature Features, and The Shark Book. She is also the solo creator of A Chicken Followed Me Home! and Seeds Move!, and The Beak Book. Robin works out of her studio in Boulder, Colorado.

Learn more about this author