title: Don't Touch That!: The Book of Gross, Poisonous, and Downright Icky Plants and Critters
author: Jeff Day MD
description: Grade 3&ndash;6&mdash;Packed with potentially life-saving information, this guide is humorous without sacrificing usefulness. The author, a medical doctor, begins with some basic plants (poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac) that might be encountered. Drawings of the leaves are carefully labeled and accompanied by the warning not to touch any part of the plant, and not to burn it as even the smoke can irritate. Poisonous insects, spiders, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals are also included, and every entry explains why the creature's venom causes the bad reaction it does and how to treat it. The text does a good job of explaining how to distinguish a poisonous insect from a benign one. It also encourages recognition of the value of potentially harmful wildlife by touching upon its importance to ecosystems. Genuinely funny, colorful drawings on every page amplify the text and make it memorable. The dangers of eating wild mushrooms, for example, are succinctly summed up: "NEVER EAT WILD MUSHROOMS!" and are accompanied by a cartoon of a rabbit chowing down on them because, as the text explains, rabbits can eat deadly mushrooms without harm. Valuable information made fun.&mdash;<I>Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text:  
   
   
  PUBLISHED BY:
  Cate Masters on Smashwords
   
   
   
  Meilin and the Challenger
  Copyright © 2015 by Cate Masters
   
   
   
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  For Gary, always.
  
  Meilin and the Challenger
   
  
  Chapter One
   
  Miles from the boundary surrounding City, Will had somehow stumbled into their
  realm. He could tell by the stench, first of all, the unmistakable rot of flesh that
  permeated the air, made worse by the night’s humidity. Secon