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Laura Mucha, Author
Hannah Peck, Illustrator
Imprint: Hodder Children's Books
Publication date: August 13, 2026
Category: Wildlife (Children's / Teenage)
ISBN: 9781526365323
What are you most afraid of? Perhaps you’re scared of hairy spiders hiding in corners, huge-winged bats who fly through the night or enormous sharks lurking in the oceans These animals may seem TERRIFYING to us humans, but what if you found out that some weren’t quite so scary after all?
Scary encourages children to talk about their own fears. Using the some of the world’s ‘scariest’ animals as a springboard, Laura Mucha unpicks what causes fear, what it feels like and what it does to the body. Although fear and anxiety can be useful for survival, they can sometimes spiral out of control, but by learning how fear and anxiety work, we can make these feelings a little easier to manage.
Meet some of the world’s most frightening (and fascinating!) animals – from the fearsome lions who make devoted parents to the big-toothed dinosaur who is a vegetarian and the fiercely loyal vulture who just wants to feed his family. Find out why they’re so misunderstood, why they might be scared themselves and why many are more endangered than dangerous. Every animal speaks for itself in its own poem, some co-written with real school classes.
It’s time to face your fears, explore anxiety and get curious about scary animals!
Laura Mucha is an award-winning poet, author and children’s advocate. Her debut poetry collection, Dear Ugly Sisters, won the NSTBA Award 2021 for best children’s poetry book of the year and was listed as one of the Independent‘s top ten poetry books of all time. Her debut picture book, Rita’s Rabbit, was published by Faber in 2021, and she has since published two children’s non-fiction titles with Nosy Crow – Welcome to our Table: A Celebration of What Children Eat Everywhere (Jun 2023) and Celebrate!: Discover 50 Fantastic Festivals from Around the World (Oct 2023). Laura also writes popular science for adults, drawing on her MA in Philosophy and Psychology.
As well as writing, Laura regularly visits primary and secondary schools, theatres and festivals around the world and works with organisations such as The National Literacy Trust, Royal Society of Medicine, and UNICEF.
Hannah Peck is an illustrator based in Brighton, UK. She originally studied English Literature at university, all the while stocking up on stories, poems and characters that would later inspire her illustrations. Escaping into another time or world with a sketchbook is her absolute favourite thing to do. Hannah works digitally using Photoshop, employing soft textures, flowing lines, and repeated mark-making to create vibrant, elegant illustrations full of magic and fun.