Apex Predators: The World's Deadliest Hunters, Past and Present

Bibliography
Jenkins, S. (2017). Apex predators : the world's deadliest hunters, past and present. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN: 9780544671607

Plot Summary
Author Steven Jenkins introduces readers to apex predators, the top dogs of the food chain. Learn about predators of the past and present, and what qualities made them so formidable. You may be surprised at the height and width of some of these dangerous hunters!

Critical Analysis
Each page in this book has a colored illustration of a predator. The first page gives the reader the definition of what a predator is and an example of a present predator and extinct predator. The present day predator has a green/blue box at the top of the page with the same color for the title text with a short name and description of the predator in black. The extinct predators have a red box with how long they have been extinct. The extinct animal also has a red title and short descriptor written in black.

After the first page, the author goes into the different modern-day predators. There are two per spread. The name of the animal is bolded. A small scale is provided with each animal to demonstrate how deadly the animal is compared to an average human. This is helpful to the reader, and also introduces a sense of fear in the reader at the thought of encountering such an animal.

The extinct predator pages look much the same as the modern day predators. After the bolded name of the animal, there are pronunciations in parenthesis. One animal, the Daedon or killer pig, takes a two page spread.

The last two pages of the book offer up an Apex Predator Face-Off On Land and In the Water. The pages offer up the question as to which predator would win in a fight? The predator that is now extinct or the present day one? The final page provides the reader with more reading material and websites to check out.
This book will definitely interest reluctant readers with the colorful images and short blocks of text.   

Review Excerpt(s)
SLJ: "Jenkins has done it again—all nonfiction collections will want this title."
BOOKLIST: "It’s a clear and simple addition to Jenkins’ books of animal infographics, and browsers interested in the fiercest of the animal world will snap it quickly up."
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY: "The intricacy of Jenkins’s distinctive artwork will capture readers’ imaginations, as will the predator face-offs he stages between pairs of predators. Great white shark vs. Dunkleosteus, anyone?"

Connections
Battle of the Apex Predators. Have students compare two predators and decide which would win. Students must provide evidence for their reasoning.
Create a social media profile for one of the apex predators. Must include where they could be found, their favorite foods, and an image.
Create a food chain with one of the modern-day apex predators at the top.
Have students find additional apex predators that can be added to this book. Students will create a page to add to the book, pamphlet, or bookmark.