Customer Reviews

Youch!: Real-life Monsters Up Close

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Hypermagnified, strikingly posed or peacefully in wait, the creatures of "Youch!" are brought to life in words and pics that tell the story just as they are. Scary creatures! I read this with my 5 year old son last night and he was fascinated and not the least uncomfortable. Kids love to be shocked; witness the faces of children at a wild animal show or even the circus.

Love the format, love the photos.

This book is written in a style that appeals to readers of all ages. It has large colour pictures to satisfy those who cannot read at all, simple text for young children who can read it like a picture book without lifting the flaps and detailed small print for adults and older readers. This book has a flap on all of the right hand pages which on the front pose a question with a detailed answer hidden underneath. The contents of this riveting read explain about deadly creatures and those which are mistaken to be deadly killers just because they're scary looking. Sensational book, I highly recommend it.

Most kids are, of course, totally fascinated by things that are slimy, squishy, walk on many hairy legs or potentially dangerous. Most kids will sit and play with caterpillars, pillbugs, frogs, toads and the like. Given the chance, most kids will even be interested in examining dead animals, like road kill, to see what's inside and what made `em tick. It's no surprise, then, that a good many kids would be TOTALLY fascinated with "Youch! It Bites!" and it's collection of strange-looking and potentially dangerous animals, plants and insects.

Taking a tour of some of the more well-known (and usually deadly) insects, plants and animals, the authors provide the reader with close-up pictures of things like black widow spiders, jellyfish, poison ivy, mosquitoes and the like. Each page has a large illustration and a lift-the-flap section that gives more detail (more GORY detail, perhaps) about the thing being discussed. Comparisons and contrasts are discussed, for example the fact that a giant, hairy tarantula isn't dangerous to humans but a teeny-tiny black widow is. Little known details and electron microscope scans are on practically every page for that extreme-close-up view of things you normally miss-- like the sharp end of a mosquito's needle-like (and hairy!) proboscis and the stinging fang of a spider.

Potential readers-- ESPECIALLY young readers-- should be aware that this book is not for the squeamish or the easily frightened! For example, both a snake and a TOAD are seen eating mice that they have killed. While this is perfectly normal for the animal and what it does to survive, the large picture of a toad with a mouse in it's mouth is somehow horrifying-- you don't think of toads going after something that big. A close-up of a row of piranha teeth, pointy and needle-sharp, might make an impressionable or sensitive child think twice about going in the water, even though these fish aren't found in North America.

In short, as a parent and teacher, there are kids who will really get into this book, and kids who will get nightmares from this book. Young children, who can't understand that they won't get stung by jellyfish or eaten by piranha in the local poor or lake, shouldn't read this book. Also, care should be taken when reading this book to young children, as it's text is rather sensational and full of references to fangs "dripping with venom" and spiders that "can kill a person." When *I* was a kid, something like this would have had me cringing in bed all day long!

The book is very good and the illustrations are excellent, no doubt about that. I'm not sure that the tabloid-headline style of the text is a good choice-- implying that kids can die horrible deaths by being bitten by a teeny spider or eaten alive by sharp-toothed fish is a bit over the top for my taste, but then again, I was always sensitive as a child.

Think carefully of who you're buying this book for, and enjoy the wild and dangerous world of poisonous animals, plants and insects!

I have mixed feelings about "Youch! It Bites: Real-Life Monsters, Up Close," the book written by Trevor Day in collaboration with Mike Jolley and Dugald Steer. Directed towards young readers, this educational book is an introduction to a wide assortment of potentially dangerous plants and animals. Species described include the rattlesnake, poison ivy, the piranha, the blue-ringed octopus, and many, many more. Day's text is accompanied on every page by detailed full-color photographs.

There is much to like about "Youch! It Bites." The physical format of the book is interesting. Every two-page spread contains a fold-out page with a surprise underneath the fold. From an educational standpoint, the book is full of fascinating facts and images. The mating dance of scorpions, the bright colors of tropical frogs, and other discoveries add to the book's appeal.

The main problem lies in the book's sensationalistic, exploitative tone. I don't like the "Jerry Springer" approach to educational children's books, and "Youch" revels in this mentality. It starts with the book's subtitle. The species in this book are not, in my opinion, "monsters," but rather animals simply trying to survive. The author constantly dwells on potential death and injury. I fear this book will, rather than get kids interested in nature, instead give them unhealthy phobias.

And some of the photos may simply be too graphic and frightening for more sensitive children. Particularly questionable is a huge close-up of a snake beginning to swallow a dead mouse. This is certainly a potentially nightmare-inducing image!

The collaborators on this book are to be commended for trying to make science fun. But the result is a very problematic book. I recommend that parents preview this text before sharing it with their children. But for bolder and more adventurous youngsters, this book may be a real treat.