Nature's Deadliest Creatures Visual Encyclopedia

Gr 2–5—The combination of DK's vibrant photos, a lean text, and a sensational subject matter makes for a page-turner. This book covers eight categories of perilous creatures, including "muscles, jaws, and claws"; "stings and poisons"; and "disease and destruction." Readers will learn about the animals' size, range, and diet, as well as their "danger factor." This intriguing, edifying book covers a wide array of well-known and obscure creatures (from the microscopic to the huge) that inhabit a variety of terrains. The seemingly harmless peacock mantis shrimp can "hammer its victim's shell to pieces" or "smash the glass of an aquarium," while the spitting cobra blinds its victim with poison before going in for the kill. The work also compares the pain of a sting, from mild discomfort to feeling like "getting your hand squashed in a revolving door."