Stephen Wilkins Jenkins (March 31, 1952 – December 26, 2021) was an American children's book author. He illustrated, wrote, and art-directed over 80 books.

Biography

Jenkins was born March 31, 1952, in Hickory, North Carolina, to Alvin and Margaret Jenkins. His father, who was a physics professor and astronomer, did research and taught at various universities, so he spent much of his childhood moving from one city to the next.

He received a bachelor's and master's from the School of Design at North Carolina State University (NCSU). During his time at NCSU, he met his wife, Robin Page. After graduating, the couple moved to New York City, and in 1982, founded their own graphic design firm, Jenkins & Page. In 1994, they moved to Boulder, Colorado.

Jenkins's debut book, Duck’s Breath and Mouse Pie, was published in 1994.

Jenkins died on December 26, 2021, of a splenic artery aneurysm, in Boulder, Colorado.

Awards and honors

Forty-four of Jenkins's books are Junior Library Guild selections.

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books included the following books in their lists of the best books of the year: How to Swallow a Pig (2015) and Animals by the Numbers (2016). The Horn Book Magazine has included the following books in their lists of the best children's nonfiction books of the year: The Top of the World (1999), Life on Earth (2002), Invisible Allies (2005), and The Animal Book (2013).

Awards for Jenkins's books
YearTitleAwardResultRef.
1998Animal Dads (as illus.)NCTE Orbis Pictus AwardRecommended
1999Hottest, Coldest, Highest, DeepestNCTE Orbis Pictus AwardHonor
2000The Top of the WorldNCTE Orbis Pictus AwardHonor
2002Animals In FlightNCTE Orbis Pictus AwardRecommended
2004What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? (as illus.)Caldecott MedalHonor
2005Actual SizeNCTE Orbis Pictus AwardHonor
2006Top of the World: Climbing Mount EverestQuick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult ReadersSelection
2007Animal Poems (as illus.)Cybils Award for PoetryFinalist
Living ColorCybils Award for Nonfiction Picture BooksFinalist
2008Living Color. Animals: tomato frog, scarlet percher dragonfly,deep-sea jellyfish, scarlet ibis, fire shrimp, Giant Vietnamese centipede, stonefish, hooded seal, flame scallop, ʻIʻiwi, white uakari, Red salamander, harvest mite, shield bug, crow, hyacinth macaw, poison dart frog, cleaner wrasse, american robin, blue morpho butterfly, Cobalt blue tarantula, Oedipoda caerulescens, Portuguese man-of-war, blue bird of paradise, blue-tongued skink, Plestiodon elegans, crab spider, Madagascan moon moth, yellow mongoose, trumpetfish, great hornbill, eyelash viper, yellow crazy ant, yellow shore crab, ladybird beetle, American goldfinch, common cuttlefish, leaf insect, green moray eel, three-toed sloth, lesser green broadbill, green anole green tiger beetle, luna moth (caterpillar), giant green anemone, leafy sea dragon, kelp isopod, African chameleon, GaribaldiNCTE Orbis Pictus AwardRecommended
Vulture View (as illus.)ALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection
Geisel AwardHonor
2009Down, Down, Down- Animals: Portuguese man o' war, albatross, great white shark, flying fish, flying squid, bottlenose dolphin, mackerel, krill, bluefin tuna, sailfish, shearwater, green sea turtle, mola mola, whale shark, manta ray, compass jellyfish, venus girdle, nautilus, oarfish, goblin shark, snipe eel, vampire squid, siphonophore, marine hatchetfish pram bug, pelican eel, deep sea jellyfish, arrow worm, deep-sea shrimp, deepsea lizardfish, hairy angler, stoplight loosejaw, black swallower, fangtooth, sperm whale, giant squid, deep-sea comb jelly, swimming sea cucumber, sea lily, tripod spiderfish, hagfish, vent crab, mussel, giant tube worm, vent octopus, and eelpout.Cybils Award for Nonfiction Picture BooksFinalist
Sisters and Brothers - Animals: African elephant, Gould's long-eared bat, nine-banded armadillo, New Mexico whiptail lizard, naked mole rat, termite, grizzly bear, spotted hyena, black widow spider, cheetah, peregrine falcon, wild turkey, beaver, nile crocodile, European shrew, great crested grebe, cichlid, cuckoo catfish, common myna, Asian koel, and giant anteater.NCTE Orbis Pictus AwardRecommended
BonesCybils Award for Nonfiction Picture BooksFinalist
2011How to Clean a HippopotamusALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection
2012Billions of Years, Amazing ChangesALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection
NCTE Orbis Pictus AwardRecommended
2013The Beetle BookALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection
2014Eat Like a Bear (as illus.)ALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection
2015The Animal BookBoston Globe–Horn Book AwardHonor
Mama Built a Little Nest (as illus.)ALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection
2016Woodpecker Wham! (as illus.)ALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection
2017Animals by the NumbersALSC Notable Children's BooksSelection
Animals by the NumbersNCTE Orbis Pictus AwardHonor
Eye to Eye - Animals: red-crowned Amazon, stick insect (called jumping stick insect), nudibranch, garden snail, nautilus, Atlantic bay scallop, colossal squid, bullfrog, stalk-eyed fly, blue mountain swallowtail butterfly, green pit viper, jumping spider, brownsnout spookfish, tuatara, halibut, panther chameleon, ghost crab, gharial, housecat, hippopotamus, leopard gecko, tarsier, mantis shrimp Eurasian buzzardNCTE Orbis Pictus AwardRecommended

Selected works

As author and illustrator

  • Duck's Breath and Mouse Pie: A Collection of Animal Superstitions (Ticknor & Fields, 1994)
  • Animals in Flight
  • What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?
  • How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships, illustrated by Robin Page (Clarion Books, 2010)

As illustrator only

External links