Mighty Scared: The Amazing Ways Animals Defend Themselves

Animals respond to threatening situations in different ways. Mighty Scared focuses on some of the more unique defensive behaviours (and, for some readers, the grosser, the better). Many of the 13 featured animals are rather unique as well. Examples include pistol shrimp, flying squirrels, assassin bugs and Texas horned lizards.

A double-page spread is devoted to each animal: the lefthand page provides facts while the facing recto, entitled “Get to Know Me”, is an “interview” in which the animal answers three questions about itself: What scares you? How do you fight back? Any other cool facts you want to share? This section offers additional facts, but they are explained in a humourous manner, conversational in tone. For instance, the electric eel states, “I also fry all my food. An electric eel’s gotta eat too. You use a microwave, don’t you?”

Types of defense mechanisms range from shooting blood from the eyes, roasting enemies alive and smothering attackers with slime, to injecting venom, ejecting ink and shooting an oily orange vomit. A few of the references might be lost on younger readers, such as the opossum’s comment that, “I’m such a good actor, I should win an Oscar.” The author also reassures kids that being scared is a natural, helpful reaction to a frightening situation and provides a few examples of what the human body does when fear sets in.

The illustrations have a retro feel and are rather flat and fairly simple, though a few of them are more detailed than others. A glossary is included.

Though most readers would not want to encounter any of the animals highlighted in Mighty Scared: The Amazing Ways Animals Defend Themselves, they will be both fascinated and repulsed by the rather disgusting survival techniques mentioned, all part of the book’s appeal!