Kid Konnection: Animal Zombies!

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week I'm going to share with you a science book about some scary animals!

Summary: Zombie alert! Meet the real-life monsters of the animal kingdom and explore the gory, gross, and creepy behaviors these creatures have honed in order to survive.

Do monsters really exist? Find out for yourself in this fun-filled book, featuring some real-life wonders of nature: zombifying parasites, bloodsucking vampires, aliens, sea beasts, ghosts, and more. Discover more than 50 creatures with unusual talents, find out what makes each animal tick, and whether they are truly "monsters" after all. Features include eye-popping photography, spine-tingling scientific info, the most up-to-date research, and fun facts for extra knowledge. You'll also meet the "Mad Scientist" experts who study these creatures, explore the creepy origins of their mythical counterparts, and learn how these spooky adaptations help them survive. -- National Geographic

Halloween is only a few weeks away, so I thought it was the perfect time for the book ANIMAL ZOMBIES! AND OTHER BLOODSUCKING BEASTS, CREEPY CREATURES, AND REAL-LIFE MONSTERS by Chana Stiefel. This book presents some crazy, scary creatures... and I'm sure that kids will be attracted to these "truth is stranger than fiction" animals!

ANIMAL ZOMBIES! is geared towards brave readers as the introduction states. It actually warns you that you are "about to enter the darkest, creepiest corners of our world." This book introduces more than 50 creatures that are pretty darn scary because of how they look, what (and how) they eat, and more. You will meet animals who are flesh-eaters, brain invaders, and blood drinkers, but you will also learn that these very same animals have developed some pretty cool ways to survive and even thrive!

I don't know that I would have picked up ANIMAL ZOMBIES! as a kid, but I was a pretty wimpy child. Most kids are going to love just how scary these real-life creatures are. This book has some amazing photography (of course it does because it's published by National Geographic!), and I think some of the photographs are almost nightmare worthy. I mean nightmare worthy in a good way -- not a bad one!

ANIMAL ZOMBIES! is a lot of fun to skim through given its amazing photography, but it also is extremely educational. Readers, especially those interested in unique animals, will learn a great deal about some pretty obscure animals. For instance, there is an entire section on Alien Animals including body invaders and tapeworms. There is also a section on Animal Monster Mash which covers disgusting (my word!) animals like mucus monsters and spewing spiders.

As is always the case with National Geographic kids books, the information is presented in a kid-friendly way -- it really does make learning fun. There are tons of pictures with informative captions, but there are also "Did You Know? "sections and animal bio features. I  also love the fun facts that are provided for each animal like the "By the Numbers" section which has interesting tidbits about the size of the animal and the "Horror or Helper" section which makes readers see another side of these creatures.

ANIMAL ZOMBIES! is a fun book that's sure to creep out even the bravest reader. Highly recommended for home and school libraries... and even reluctant readers.

Thanks to Media Masters for providing a review copy of this novel.

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!