Catchy title, brightly colored cover and interior illustrations and odd looking animals with equally bizarre names, but the intended audience for this book is unclear to me. The text is lengthy and geared to reading levels much higher than those who would be drawn to the cover. Those readers looking for the depth of information contained in the text would likely prefer more realistic-looking photographs and drawings. Reader at my 4th and 5th grade libraries would probably check it out, but few would do more than flip through the pages and the junior high students I used to teach would walk right by the juvenile-looking cover.

An excellent addition to any school library with either upper elementary grades or middle school students. The authors present a wide variety of animals that are not very common, and explain why their names make them stand out. The reader will learn some interesting facts about these friends, learn some basic notions about taxonomy, and enjoy their humor and wit. I personally plan to purchase this book for my library!

This is a book that explores animal by their strange monikers that they have been given by scientists and allows readers to get an introductory look into some really weird animals. But as a result of its length, though, it can be quite a heavy read for the young reading audience that it focuses to reach.

Even so as a result of its heavy reading, part of the density is attributable to just pages that are focused on illustrations. Other parts that add to the pages is a further moniker trivia spread, the in-depth glossary in the back, a two-page spread on how to explore your local environment for possible new species followed by a name generator and more information to help you further your read.

The information was pretty factual but presented in a nice format with the first part of the book being organized by animals being grouped with similar monikers whether they were magical, food related, fiendish-sound, weird, etc. Second of all each section explored the animals within it by devoting a few pages to each while another mini section was included in each to allow the reader to get to know more animals, usually related somehow to the previous-mentioned animal.

The writing was light. Add trivia bubbles were given to the title of the animal to explain parts of the name. Furthermore there was an information box that included the scientific name, its habitat and some interesting fact for each. Plus all this there are a few paragraphs that explain name origins, behavior of the special and some more. Even with all the factual information there is some attempts at trying to ease the writing by adding a bit of levity to it.

I did have two other complaints with the book while the first one was such a big one that it made me drop the book's rating to a 3-star. And this was the inclusion of the blobfish. A blobfish out of water and exposed to pressure is the one that is quite known for its weird humanish appearance but the actual blobfish doesn't resemble that. The entry doesn't include any original pictures of the poor fish but nor does it explain the weird appearance the blobfish has, which I feel is a betrayal to the reader just as much as providing wrong factual information. It just isn't right while it made me keep looking up all the other animals I didn't know to confirm their factual appearance.

The other complaint I have is based on the illustrations being all over the page as there are vague outlines, colored illustrations and some photographs as well. In my opinion I would have wished the editor would have just chosen to have gone with photographs in a streamlined manner and to have also included the picture of the blue dragon sea slug instead of just the form as that is one cool looking slug.

Finally since it is still in the process of being edited the page numbers are missing but I am guessing those will be edited before the actual release date.

All in all it was a nice book even for all of its problems and one that would be good for a science read, especially for those who love getting to know more about unique animals. Just be wary about the misinformation that may be included or not included when you read it.

***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***

My 7 year old loved this book! It had us both laughing hysterically. Who knew there were animals like bone eating snot flower worm or the sparkle muffin peacock spider... Not only was the book entertaining it had alot of good information on the animals and how they are named

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

You will be swept away with just how much you don't know about the animal kingdom, but wish you had known earlier with this book! Lots of great material about the science of animal nomenclature, great photos, interesting chapters, and approachable writing for any reader. My young son was constantly peeking over my shoulder. If you are curious and want to learn more there is a great appendix of fun! A great resource for all libraries!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This book had so much great information! I thought Id be able to read it in a day but there was a lot of little facts and stuff, it was really great!

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This book is fantastic and full of some of the craziest animal names and I'd only heard of about 8 of them.
This book will fascinate children and would be great for animal lovers of all ages, even adults! This book is full of information which is presented in a fun way that is understandable to children.
This would make a great gift!

This book was just fun - crazy names of some crazy animals with brief blurbs about each. I read an eARC from Netgalley and will be curious to see the final version. I felt that some of the illustrations were not finished and so I'd like to see what it looks like. My students will enjoy this accessible, quirky book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance read of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The pictures in this books are certainly eye-catching and the information quite spell-binding.
So get out your magnifier and start looking for these and other animals, fish, and insects (with the help of your parents).
You might find one you can name .

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and Workman Publishing Company in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was laid out in an easy to read format, the information provided for each animal was brief and informative. I love that the author provides the scientific name and common name(s) for each animal and a description of how they were given these odd names.
At my job I provide a little blurb about weird animals for the monthly newsletter and had heard about most of these animals already. However, I was still able to learn about quite a few new animals that I hadn’t already heard of and my favorite new animals were the Hellbender, the Bone Eating Snot Flower Worm, and the Cookiecutter Shark.

#TheScreamingHairyArmadilloand76OtherAnimalswithWildWackyNames #NetGalley

This entertaining collection of oddly-named animals is sure to delight budding biologists. From the kid-friendly explanation of scientific classification to the Wild and Wacky Name Generator, this book is filled with facts and fun. This informative nonfiction volume would be a great addition to any elementary school library collection.

This is wonderfully written book. It is a bit dry, but is enjoyable all the same. My 6th grader loooved it my 2nd grader enjoyed listening to it, but not so much reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Workman Publishing Company for The Screaming Hairy Armadillo and 76 Other Animals with Wild, Wacky Names by Matthew Murrie and Steve Murrie, illustrated by Julie Benbassat. This book is all about goofy named animals and is broken up into chapters including: Funny Names (Monkeyface Prickleback), Magical Names (Moonrat), Fierce Names (Twice-Stabbed Stink Bug), Delicious Names (Candy-Striped Hermit Crab), and Just Plain Weird Names (Dogface Butterfly). The introduction talks about what names are, why we have them, and how scientists’ choose animal names. There is also a discussion on scientific names and taxonomy.

The the book goes onto discuss the animals. Each two page spread discusses the animal and its name, an illustration for the animal, an actual picture of the animal, and a box that lists the scientific name, habitat, and a fun fact. There is a list of additional resources at the end of the book to learn more information. This book is full of silly information and is would be an enjoyable read for anyone who likes animals, science, or funny facts.

Nonfiction for young readers at its finest! The writing is packed with information in a casual, conversational tone that pairs nicely with the page design, color palette, and use of photos and illustrations. I imagine students and animal fans will be referencing this book for years to come!

I really enjoyed leafing through this book of creatures whose only commonality is that they have been given interesting names. I was especially excited to learn about creatures I had never heard of before. Full of fascinating information and wonderfully illustrated, I'm looking forward to sharing it with grandchildren.
The bright colors throughout mostly draw attention and excitement, but a few of the page layouts were very hard on the eyes and difficult to read onscreen - white lettering on superbright neon green in particular. I hope the colors will be less harsh on paper.
Thanks to NetGalley and Workman Publishing for the advance read.

Many thanks for this book!

It's a fun, informative wat for chldren to learn about litte-known animals throughout the world. I'd even use this in Early Years' education to provide an initial broad knowledge of animals (Not expecting them to get it correct, of course)
Thank you again for the ARC of this funny book! I love animals and this is a good book to use to share this repect and love.

My student are going to love this book! It so up their allies!

1. It is an animal book --- Major win for any elementary students!

2. It features wacky, weird, and gross animals with even weirder names --- Extreme win for elementary students!

3. It is a nonfiction book with great illustrations -- Home run win for elementary students.

I will be buying this book for my class, and it will be devoured by my students. They love books that feature animals.

A very fun, informative and interesting guide to a variety of animals around the world. Kids should love this one.

I was excited to find this, as I grew up reading similar books, and now my sister (12) can also enjoy them. I've read enough Animal Facts type books to know some are better than others, but this one was different, and I planned to recommend it to her if I enjoyed it...Well, it didn't take long to decide not only did I enjoy it, but I couldn't put it down! Normally I read Non-Fiction, especially fact books, a bit at a time, but this one is so fun and unique, I couldn't help but plowed through the easy-to-read format, and love learning about all these strange animal names! I've always loved animals, the weirder the better, growing up I'd fall asleep to Animal Planet, especially The Crocodile Hunter and similar, so I've absorbed animal facts since I was a toddler, but I was surprised and excited to find that I was only familiar with a few mentioned in here, so I enjoyed learning about all the new animals as I read, which might have been what kept me reading instead of stopping after short sprints, haha.

I loves me some fish and chips, but I didn't know such a thing as the potato cod existed before now. It's not the best way to combine the two foodstuffs, however, but that's the shtick of this book – showing us the most unusually-named critters on this planet and discussing their nature. Goblin sharks, moonrats, the sarcastic fringehead, go-away birds, and so much more all feature, in a really child-friendly way. No subject outstays its welcome, as all the chapters come in under four pages. What's actually the prime benefit of this book is that it manages to use its encyclopaedic approach to educate about so many different aspects of nature, from parasites to unique biomes to this, that and the other. There are a lot of animals here, and while the book never thrusts a particular lesson down our throat, just by reading these pages you'd learn a heck of a lot about the world. If you doubt that, skim to the glossary at the end, which will boggle the eyes of many a Scrabble player, and really impress biology teachers with the breadth of the terms it tries to introduce us to. So this flippant book actually will end up improving our thinking about the varied world around us, even while it only appears to be telling us about the snot-faced dungbird, or whatever (I made that one up, in case you weren't sure). Some people will debate the value of spending effort on so many illustrations when photos would have been better, but for me this was a wonderful volume, and kids will relish the absurd contents.