Children's Literature – Miranda McClain
From the tiny carpenter ant to the mighty African lion the animal kingdom is full of deadly killers. Not all may be lethal enough to kill a person but they are powerful meat-eaters all the same. Kids who thrive on excitement will thrill at the gory but sometimes comical illustrations in this fascinatingly informative book about the many different ways animals kill one another. This nonfiction book, that reads more like a comic book, delves into the biology of animal food chains that parents often try to shield their children from. Yet, the book manages to do so in a kid-friendly and even humorous fashion. Readers will delight in being horrified by facts such as how many people were killed by wolves in the state of Indiana in 1878, or the Australian funnel-web spider's ability to survive twenty-four hours at the bottom of a swimming pool. Surely not only the child prone to horror will find something of interest in these pages and perhaps will help readers wise-up enough to stay safe in a world filled with creatures that kill instinctively. Reviewer: Miranda McClain