MIGHTY SCARED

Glimpses of some of the grosser ways wild animals respond to stress or attacks.

Obvious defensive behaviors like hiding and flying away get nods, but mostly Silver goes for the gusto with introductions to projectile-vomiting fulmar birds, blood-squirting horned lizards, spitting camels, and other creatures with similarly repulsive strategies. In a questionable decision, the author gives the inherently crowd-pleasing premise a jokey bent by having each animal speak informally for itself: “I also fry all my food. What? An electric eel’s gotta eat too. You use a microwave, don’t you?” “They call me Assassin. Assassin Bug…I’ve been trained to go on the attack when I’m scared. Take a look at my dead-bug backpack.” The afterword, in which she points out to young readers how their own instinctive reactions mimic (some of!) the ones she describes, seems likewise strained. In the illustrations, a drab palette and static compositions leach most of the drama from Maynard’s stodgy predator/prey encounters, but he does at least depict the wild cast with reasonable fidelity. The book opens and closes with racially diverse sets of human figures in outdoor settings.

A juicy topic, but the author tries too hard and the illustrator not hard enough.