The Most Dangerous

PreS-Gr 2—A contest to determine the most dangerous creature is the premise of Fields's book, complete with nervous judges and a cast of animals best avoided. They reside on land, in the sea, and in the air, and each offers one or more facts to prove its fearsomeness. From box jelly to venomous snake, toothsome shark to stealthy crocodile, even the clownish porcupine fish and oversize cassowary audition for the prize. Being responsible for the most sickness and death earns the ubiquitous mosquito the trophy. While the facts are sparse and the text simplistic, the photo-realistic illustrations show the animal in its habitat and in a close-up, aggressive pose. With a blend of traditional painting and digital media, Jacques's half- or full-spread images are satisfying for their detail and drama. Featuring many of the same animals, Steven Jenkins's Never Smile at a Monkey (Houghton Harcourt, 2009), with his signature paper-collage images and alliterative text, is distinctive bookmaking offering a more scientific overview, poetic cadence, and specific warnings. In Fields's book, the animals are personified, stating their own case and thereby causing the judges to cower and tremble. Much smaller images and text on four additional pages offer learning activities with additional interactive quizzes and teaching activities to become available via the publisher's website. With animals a perennial favorite and a cover featuring the gaping mouths of a shark, snake, and crocodile, this contest is likely to lure the most reluctant readers.—Janet S. Thompson, Chicago Public Library