"While other tortoises and turtles tuck into their shells
when threatened by predators, the African pancake tortoise
takes off running or climbs over rocks in order to escape.
That's right - a climbing pancake tortoise. Has the world
gone mad?"
If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you will know that I love books like this. They are books that kids love for the information they present. They are intrigued by animals they have not heard about, and do not know. They look forward to learning new information they can share with others. I feel the same, and often find myself caught up in reading such books from cover to cover.
This one focuses on names, as you learn from the subtitle. The introduction discusses why names are important, how scientists name animals, and the way those scientific names then help identify variety in the animal kingdom, and they even present some crazy common names. All this before the first chapter: Funny Names. They follow that section up with Magical Names, Fierce Names, Delicious Names, and finally, Just Plain Weird Names.
I started by scanning through each chapter looking for names I recognized. There were six. Then, I chose a section I thought sounded interesting: Delicious Names, because I like food.
"Rasberry crazy ants are the first known species of
insects capable of neutralizing another creature's venom.
They can coat themselves in formic acid, which acts as an
antidote to the venom of fire ants."
The design is familiar and welcome. An illustrated, labelled image of the animal itself, accompanied by an information box giving species name, habitat, and a short description is there. Included as well, on each two-page spread, is a carefully chosen, clear photograph of the animal in the wild, and a descriptive entry with further helpful information.
Will just reading these names - sparklemuffin peacock spider, the Australian ghost shark, the bone-eating snot flower worm, the cookiecutter shark, the headless chicken monster- entice a reader to check it out? I think so. Almost 80 species are described. What's not to like about that? As if that weren't enough, the authors include a further 15-page section called More to Explore. First awards are given to longest scientific name, most head-scratching name, etc. They then provide a method for discovering and naming an organism, an alphabetical and extensive glossary, a list for further reading, and a note on conservation. What more could we ask for, I wonder?
No comments:
Post a Comment