Book Review: WHAT TO DO WHEN SOMETHING WANTS TO EAT YOU? by Steve Jenkins

Bibliography
Jenkins, Steve. 1997. WHAT TO DO WHEN SOMETHING WANTS TO EAT YOU? New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 0-618-15243-1

Plot Summary
WHAT TO DO WHEN SOMETHING WANTS TO EAT YOU is an informative book on certain animals' survival techniques. Some of the highlighted animals are the puffer fish, the hog-nosed snake, and the Javanese leaf insect.

Critique Analysis
WHAT TO DO WHEN SOMETHING WANTS TO EAT YOU is an introduction to adaptability among animals. The accuracy of the book is easily tested from Google or Encyclopedia (does a puffer fish truly puff itself up to seem bigger and scary?). Overall there does not seem to be an order that the animals appear, but there is organization. Each animal receives two pages. The first page shows the animal about to be eaten, and then the next page shows how it escapes. The reader has to turn the page each time to see what happens to the victim animal which adds a touch of suspense.
Te design of the illustrations look as if the animals were cut out and pasted on top of the background. This creates the illusion of multi-demensions.
The style of this book creates wonder and excitement. There is suspense in finding out what happens next for the poor animal about to get eaten.

Review Excerpts
*Booklist Editors' Choice
*A NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children

Connections
The last page of the book asks "what would YOU do if something wanted to eat YOU?" Children could raise their hands and answer the question with how they would adapt.
Also, they could cut and paste (in Steve Jenkins style) their favorite victim animal (either from the story or their own cool animal). This introduces children to research and they get to show their family what they learned.