This non-fiction book is simple, yet entertaining and educational.  The book tells how various kinds of animals protect themselves when directly threatened.  Sea animals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects are included in the wide range of animals described.  Kirkus says, “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.”

The text of this book is very simple yet compelling.  On the first page about a particular animal Jenkins sets up the situation and doesn’t tell how that animal protects itself until the page is turned.  Readers can make predictions and then see if they are right.  Kirkus describes the book this way, “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.”

The simple text is illustrated beautifully.  Steve Jenkins uses intricate cut-paper collages on textured backgrounds.  School Library Journal says that this is “the artist's trademark.”

Jenkins, winner of the 1999 Boston Globe - Horn Book Award for nonfiction, has created a simple, yet extremely interesting picture book science book for students of all ages.  The illustrations stand alone as true artwork. Booklist calls this book “thrilling, beautiful . . . dramatic” and Publishers Weekly calls it an “absorbing tribute to nature's genius . . .”

Goodroe, Sally Bates. Review of What Do You Do When Something Wants to Eat You? in School Library Journal. Available from http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0395825148//qid=1098235460/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-2292350-4363846?v=glance&s=books&vi=reviews.  Accessed 20 October 2004

Review of What Do You Do When Something Wants to Eat You? in Booklist. Available from http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0395825148//qid=1098235460/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-2292350-4363846?v=glance&s=books&vi=reviews.  Accessed 20 October 2004

Review of What Do You Do When Something Wants to Eat You? in Kirkus. Available from http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0395825148//qid=1098235460/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-2292350-4363846?v=glance&s=books&vi=reviews.  Accessed 20 October 2004

Review of What Do You Do When Something Wants to Eat You? in Publishers Weekly. Available from http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0395825148//qid=1098235460/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-2292350-4363846?v=glance&s=books&vi=reviews.  Accessed 20 October 2004