WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMETHING WANTS TO EAT YOU?

The art of camouflage works on several levels here: Jenkins (Big and Little, 1996, etc.) cleverly conceals a factual compendium of 14 animal and insect defenses as a colorful picture book. Predators are depicted in pursuit of prey on each right-hand side of the spread; a flip of the page uncovers the clever escape mechanism employed by the would-be victim, from the bombardier beetle that can spray hot chemicals up to 500 times a second, to the glass snake that conveniently segments its tail. Whether curling up into an armor-plated ball, squirting clouds of ink, or imitating a leaf, the tricksters are described in a couple of sentences that invite further investigation of these survival techniques. Layered cut-paper collage animals are positioned in dramatic stances against textured handmade-paper backgrounds. In a few instances, the black typeface is difficult to discern when it is superimposed on the dark green of leaf or grass. One final question, ``What would you do if something wanted to eat you?'' takes readers into their own cat-and-mouse scenarios. A dashing look at natural escape routes. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-8)