As a student, science was one of my weakest subjects simply because I was not interested in learning it. I would almost never read science books on my own, unless they were like this one. This book formats itself in stories first, science after, hooking its readers in with a strange circumstance in which those at the lowest part of the food chain fight back, making us wonder how and why? This leads into the science behind it and we learn all about different defenses animals (and plants!) have developed. This would be great for a fifth grade class to either get a more literacy inclined student excited about science, or a science inclined student more excited about literacy! ( )

When Lunch Fights Back
Wickedly Clever Animal Defenses
by Rebecca L. Johnson
This book is such a blast! Animals with wicked and unpredictable weapons such as super stinky and super sticky vomit, ultra gross shooting poo, nasty tasting blood they shoot out of their eyes and more! How great is that? Why don't humans have such cool tricks? This is an audible book and the narrator was terrific! She explained things well and in a clear, crisp voice! This was made for middle age kids but I think all ages, even old ladies like me, will get a kick out of it! Informative and entertaining! Win/win!
Thanks NetGalley for letting me listen to this wonderful book! ( )

Summary:
This book is broken into chapters based on different categories of defense mechanisms animals have. Some of these features include slim and toxic poison. In each chapter, the author provides examples of animals with certain defense mechanisms and then explains the biological processes that create the mechanism.

Review:
I think this science children's book does an excellent job of pulling at students interests. The books is filled with bright colors and highly detailed pictures that draw the reader in. I would recommend this book be used with older elementary students. The book itself in broken into chapters that, while short, are very wordy with high amounts of academic language. This book could easily be used in lessons about evolution. It would also be a good book to have available during a lesson on biomimicry. ( )

A science book about animals and their defenses

Interesting book on animal defense mechanisms versus their predators. Most of these I had never heard of from Vomit that stripped birds of weatherproofing of feathers, to plants protecting themselves from butterflies.
Classroom:
Nature study on animals and their defense mechanisms. Discussion on why they would need such defenses. Possible writing assignment to what kind of defenses would they like to possess.