Sunday 11 May 2014

Children's book review : Deadly Factbook : Bizarre Beasts


Juliette squealed in delight when she saw the latest book that she'd received to review from Orion : The Deadly Factbook : Bizarre Beasts.


Tying in with the CBBC Deadly series, the front cover features a picture of presenter Steve Backshall, alongside a bright red spotty frog that looks like it's trying to be a ladybird and a strange parrot or vulture-like bird with something resembling a brain on its beak ! The tone is set !


Did you know that there is such a thing as a bone-eating snot-flower worm? Or that the secretary bird kills its prey by stamping on it? Those are just two of the questions to whet your appetite on the back of the book. Juliette loved delving in to read the short texts, accompanied by large, detailed, brightly coloured illustrations, presenting such little known creatures as the aye-aye, the vampire finch, the satanic leaf-tailed gecko and Malaysian exploding ants. Even I'd never heard of them so it was great fun to sit down and read the book with her (or be read to, which made her very proud, because she was teaching me new things !).


This is the fifth book in the Deadly Factbook series, following on from "Mammals", "Minibeasts (Spiders and Insects)", "Reptiles & Amphibians" and "Fish, Squid & Jellyfish".

The short texts and large illustrations are great for encouraging beginner readers and they have enough eww-factor to appeal to even reluctant readers. Even as a grown-up, I found them fascinating.

Like the sound of it? Don't go away - I have a giveaway coming up to win three copies !

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £4.99

  • Paperback: 80 pages
  • Publisher: Orion Childrens (10 April 2014)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1444010042
  • ISBN-13: 978-1444010046
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 0.8 cm



Disclosure : We received the book in order to write an honest review.

Other reviews you may be interested in :

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