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Never Smile at a Monkey

Never Smile at a Monkey: and 17 other important things to remember
By Steve Jenkins
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2009. Unpaged. Juvenile nonfiction.

In a book that is packed with unusual information, readers learn about animals that seem harmless but are surprisingly dangerous, such as cone shells, box jellyfish, and cane toads. The revelation that platypus have venomous spurs on their hind legs was shocking to me--I never realized they had any defenses! Children will not only love learning the many obscure facts this book has to offer but will also revel in the beautiful cut-paper illustrations. This is an excellent book for both learning and enjoyment!

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