.jpeg?picon=3103)
Written by Laura Bueler, Susan Kennedy,
Jim Pipe and Richard Walker
DK Publishing, 2010
$19.99, ages 10-17, 192 pages
Get ready to feel your jaw tighten at the horror of it all.
In this terrifying, tantalizing tome, a team of writers has come up with every scary thing you almost wish you didn't want to know.
The book begins with "Nature's Nasties," all those creepy things that may be lurking nearby, or somewhere in the tropics, or somewhere in the deep sea, or somewhere inside of you.
The first thing you see is a "Wanted" poster in sepia tone with the most dangerous critters on the planet, beginning with the mosquito, the greatest host malaria has ever known, to the King Cobra, who can take down an elephant in one bite.
In a shark-feasting diagram that follows, the team explores whether sharks are really the serial killers of the ocean we make them out to be or just poor, misunderstood fellows with a taste for human flesh (and a side of krill).
Next comes a gruesomely funny comic of guy trying to escape the clutches of a grey white shark. Ah ha! Rodney's poked the shark in the eye. But watch out, Rodney, he's darting up from behind!
Oh, no! There's red stuff oozing off your arm, Rodney. Will you meet your doom or have a cool scar to show the guys?
On another page, eight cuddly looking creatures bat their eyes at readers, while below authors reveal their wicked secrets.
Did you know that koala bears, with those cute tufted ears and velvety fur, have razor-sharp claws they're not afraid to use? Or that flipper sometimes hunts down porpoises for no good reason?
And that's only part of chapter 1!
Other chapters explore the dangerous landscapes of Earth, spooky things that can happen in outer space, strange experiments that go horribly wrong, the horrors of the human body, killer careers and culture, and perilous truths from the past.