Review: Hard to imagine any little boy who wouldn't love this book!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 12, 2014
You might want to wait until he's old enough to read it to himself because, frankly, it's pretty darn scary.There are a few typos and misspellings, but it's well-written and well organized.  The approach is educational and even-handed.  The author points out that there are various ways of defining "dangerous" and that some animals which are potentially deadly  don't have enough contact with humans to do much damage. I also liked the explanation of the difference between "venomous" and "poisonous."  The carpet viper is venomous, so if it bites you, you may die.  The puffer fish is poisonous, so if YOU bite IT, you may die.  Most adults have never gotten these two words straight.Some of the creatures are obvious candidates: lions, tigers, sharks, cobras.  Some are rather obscure.  I didn't know that the cassowary of Australia is the world's most dangerous bird. I knew that the comic-looking hippo kills more people in Africa than any other large animal. I was impressed that the author mentioned several domestic animals (large dogs, horses, cows)  and the danger which they can pose to humans in certain circumstances.I was surprised that bee stings (the most common animal-related deaths in the U.S.) weren't  mentioned.  And I wonder at the omission of the mountain lion, which I think is a danger in the western U.S.  However, there is a lot of information in this little book and it's presented in a highly entertaining way.  Even a kid who isn't a bookworm would be interested in this one.