How to Promenade with a Python (and Not Get Eaten): A Polite Predators Book by Rachel Poliquin & Kathryn Durst (Illustrations)

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It will be released February 2, 2021, by Tundra Books.

If I was still working in a school library, I would purchase this in a heartbeat. It's got just the right amount of facts, farce and fear to engage readers of all ages. I only wish I could have found out more about Kathryn Durst's process for creating these vibrant illustrations. 

A Madagascar Hissing Cockroach named Celeste hosts this book. Cockroaches are expert survivors who have been on the planet for millions of years. Given this, they are very knowledgeable and can teach us humans many things. 

In this case Celeste is teaching readers how to take a promenade with a python named Frank. Please note that she makes it very very clear that in real life this is an extremely bad idea. 

I am in awe of how much I learned about pythons in this book. 

Did you know that there are more than forty different kinds of pythons? Did you know that reticulated pythons like Frank can grow to be 8 metres long and weigh 150 Kilograms? (That's as long as a bus and as heavy as four baby hippos.) Did you know they have bad eyesight and are colour blind?

I especially appreciated the labeled diagram with a cutout section showing Frank's bones. 

Are you interested in learning how pythons like Frank capture, kill and swallow their prey? This entertaining nonfiction picture book will teach you this, and much much more about this not so polite predator. 

I have learned not to go anywhere near them!