Friend or Foe

July 15, 2015
An album of scary, dangerous, or revolting creatures-all of which have better sides. For 10 animals, from rats and roaches to sharks and wolves, Kaner presents in turn a selection of destructive or disgusting habits, then beneficial behaviors. Though negatives tend to be more vivid than countering claims, readers who swoon over gross bits will find plenty of passages like "How does a vulture cool off on hot days? It poops on its legs," and "It takes much less feed, land, and water to raise a pound of cockroach meat than it does to raise a pound of beef." Her titles are thrilling too: "Leeches Suck." "AAH! SHARKS!" "Vultures Deserve Better Press." Along with being sometimes unconvincing ("Marvelous Mosquitoes"), most of her observations are generalized or, like a suggestion that a certain mosquito-eating spider might be the "solution" for malaria, facile. Moreover, her invitation to make a "friend or foe?" choice for each animal sets up a series of false dichotomies that she then confusingly (if rightly) dismisses abruptly with a concluding explanation that "Animals Are Just Doing Their Thing." Anderson adds a comical tone to the enterprise with cartoon illustrations of beasties bearing human expressions and uttering such quips as "Howl's it going?" or "I'm glad pie-thon isn't on the menu!" Unvarnished infotainment, cross-purposed and more suitable for casual browsing than focused research. (bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 8-10)

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December 1, 2015

Gr 3-5-Kaner takes on peoples' fears and misconceptions about a variety of creepy-crawly, shudder-inducing animals, including cockroaches, mosquitoes, bats, spiders, wolves, and more. In each case, she demonstrates that while there are negative aspects to all of these, they each contribute something useful to humans or to the environment. For instance, while rats carry disease, African giant pouched rats are great mine detectors, saving lives in previously war-torn countries. Leeches suck blood, but attaching leeches to a wound "stops blood clotting and keeps blood flowing." Bats can carry rabies and other diseases, but they eat millions of mosquitoes and fertilize fields with their guano. And those nasty, biting mosquitoes, which carry malaria and other diseases, are great pollinators, and their larvae help clean up water systems by eating decaying plant matter. This is a fascinating book that suffers only from cartoonish illustrations that sometimes anthropomorphize the animals covered. However, the intended audience is not likely to be put off by the visuals, and this book will be of interest to some reluctant readers. VERDICT Recommended as a secondary purchase for school and public libraries.-Nancy Silverrod, San Francisco Public Library

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