IT'S TOUGH TO BE TINY

Very small creatures nevertheless have many effective survival strategies.

Jumping out of the way of enemies, shooting them with toxins, relying on armor, and camouflaging themselves are all ways tiny creatures can avoid being eaten. But, Ryall Woolcock explains, they can also turn the tables, biting, hunting, herding, or just joining up with others. This survey of survival skills begins cleverly with an illustration of a small pink-skinned child being squished in a crowd. Having made a connection with their intended readers, Ryall Woolcock and Thomas introduce their subject: the “superpowers” of various small creatures. From baby planthoppers, which use gears to perform jumping feats, to imperial shrimp, which stay safe from predators by riding around on poisonous nudibranchs, author and illustrator present a wide variety of strategies. For the most part, each species gets a single page; some topics—like the hunting methods of various spiders—receive a double-page spread. Considerable information is packed into short paragraphs, often with headers, set directly on full-bleed illustrations that effectively showcase menacing predators and their potential prey, like the gently humorous cover, which depicts a frog about to be surprised by the beetle it’s hoping to eat. This builds on the information provided by Nathalie Tordjman’s The Book of Tiny Creatures (2021), illustrated by Julien Norwood and Emmanuelle Tchoukriel. Humans portrayed are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An appealing reminder that mighty things come in small packages.