Early Book Review: The World's Most Atrocious Animals by Philip Bunting

The World's Most Atrocious Animals is the third title in the series from Philip Bunting. It is currently scheduled for release on July 11 2023 and is filled with facts about some of the scariest creatures in the natural world. Meet the enormous murder hornets of east and southeast Asia, the poisonous blue-ringed octopus, Africa's hungry but deadly hippos and some truly shocking electric eels, among many more truly scary creatures! The antagonist voice (speaking though cheeky annotations) points out the most frightening aspects of each creature's characteristics, while the narrator's voice describes engaging, factual information about each animal's seemingly scary characteristics. Are they really as scary as they seem? With humorous text and bright illustrations, this guide to terrifying animals contains funny labelled diagrams and fabulous facts. It will help teach kids about the animals we fear and whether their gruesome reputation is deserved!

The World's Most Atrocious Animals is another great addition to this series. There is a great balance of humor and information. While there was a good deal of information that I knew, I still learned a good deal. The illustrations are fun, and accurate while still maintaining the humorous tone of the book. There is a wide range of creatures covered here- with plenty of interesting information about each of them. The only things I would have liked to see here that I didn't, is some sources for further reading in the endmatter of the book and some kind of organization for the order of creatures in the book. If there was a reason for the order I missed it, but organizing them by something would have been nice; location, habitat, alphabetically, anything at all would have been helpful to me personally but no one else might be bothered by this at all.  Fans of the previous books in this series will not be disappointed, either will readers that like a little fun along side their information.

Early Book Review: Sexus Animalis: There Is Nothing Unnatural in Nature by Emmanuelle Pouydebat

Sexus Animalis: There Is Nothing Unnatural in Nature by Emmanuelle Pouydebat is an illustrated guide to the amazingly multifarious sex lives of animals, from elephants and bonobos to butterflies and bedbugs.It is currently scheduled for release on March 8 2022. 

There may be nothing unnatural in nature, but nature still encompasses much that seems fantastically strange—the amazingly multifarious sex lives of animals, for example. Sexus Animalis tells us everything we never dreamed we wanted to know about the reproductive systems, genital organs, and sexual practices of animals, from elephants (who masturbate with their trunks) to fruit flies (who produce spermatozoa twenty times their size). In the animal kingdom we find heterosexual, lesbian, gay, and bisexual behavior, as well as monogamy, polygamy, and polyandry, not to mention fellatio and many varieties of erections and orgasms. Emmanuelle Pouydebat, a natural history researcher, tells us about gutter penises, double penises, detachable penises, and corkscrew-shaped penises, as well as vaginas built for storage and clitorises with thorns. (Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s more data about animal penises than animal vaginas and clitorises.) She explains how the ostrich achieves an erection, describes the courtship of pygmy chameleons, and recounts how the female short-beaked echidna chooses a partner. She reports on sexual assault among animals—there’s evidence that half of female mallards are sexually assaulted—and explains how masturbation helps squirrels avoid sexually transmitted diseases. It seems that animals have been composing their own Kama Sutra throughout the ages. Striking color illustrations accompany the text.

Sexus Animalis is a book that offers exactly what is promises, fascinated information that I never knew I wanted to know about the anatomy and mechanisms of sex for a wide variety of animals and how evolution and natural selection could play their part in all of it. I found the writing style to be accessible with some humor and straight forward information that I never thought about exploring previously. I thought the information included was well researched and organized, and pointed out the gaps in our understanding and how much work there is still to do. I thought the frank and honest explanations were peppered with a nice dose of humor and wit to add another level of interest and entertainment to the read without lessening the credibility of the text. I thought that the illustrations were tasteful and very well done, and helped give readers a more informed awareness of the size and particularities of what is being described in text. I was very interested in the implications of how evolution and other factors have made so many variations on the sex lives of creatures of all shapes and sizes. I never thought much about it, and think there are many people that likewise never considered the complexity and sometimes straight up strangeness of the world around us. This read entertained, informed, and got me thinking a little more about the complexities of the world around us. 

Book Review: Minibeasts: True Rulers of Our World and the Key to our Survival by Alan Henderson

Minibeasts: True Rulers of Our World and the Key to our Survival by Alan Henderson offers readers insight into the micro world of the minibeasts reveals the critical roles these true rulers of our world play in our future survival. Simply put, without the invertebrates (insects) and other tiny critters, humans would not survive. While outlining the importance of the minibeast world, this book is also a visual feast of detail and color, capturing form and behavior that the naked eye isn’t normally able to see when encountering these small creatures. The result is a book that captivates the reader while at the same time inspiring a new appreciation for these magnificent animals. Lavishly illustrated with breathtaking macro-photography, each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of minibeasts and includes introductory text followed by images and informative captions. Among the topics covered are the jobs minibeasts perform that enable life on earth to exist, as well as the ways in which they have evolved to suit their environments and how we borrow ideas from them in the fields of biotechnology, engineering and design. As we will come to realize, from new medical drugs to hi-tech robotics, minibeasts provide a wealth of material for humans to draw on to help solve our 21-century problems.

Minibeasts is a fascinating book for the photography alone. The close up images of the insects are simply amazing ad well worth looking at all on their own. Add in the details about their adaptation and tricks to survive and this book is one that will stand up to multiple explorations. So many people think of the little creatures of the world as nothing more than pests or problems, but this book shows us the complexity, beauty, and ingenuity of these creatures as well as the role the play in the world.  The text is solid, in depth enough that I learned a great deal and was highly engaged, but not so technical that I ever felt left behind or talked down to. There is even some humor in the chapter headings and information, so there is really nothing I can find to say against reading this book- unless of course the very idea of anything creepy crawly makes you shudder.  I think that young adults and interested middle graders would get just as much from this book as any interested adult. 

Minibeasts is a visually stunning book and a very informative read. I think that this should be in libraries and personal collections for anyone that is even vaguely interested in photography, biology, and the natural world.

Book Review: Hair!: Animal Fur, Wool, and More by Marilyn Singer, Julie Colombet

Hair!: Animal Fur, Wool, and More is a children's nonfiction book written by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Julie Colombet. Why are humans and other mammals covered in hair, and why are there so many different types of it? Vivid photographs paired with a duo of quirky, illustrated hair guides serve to illuminate the fascinating facts about mammal hair: why it exists, what it's good for, and more. Readers will learn about different types of animal coats, such as fur and down, and explore the many different forms guard hairs take, such as the quills on a porcupine.

Hair!: Animal Fur, Wool, and More is a well balanced non fiction book for young readers. I like that information is given alongside beautiful photographs and illustrations that offer a combination of humor and fun facts. A great deal oft he information I already knew, some I had forgotten, and some was new or updated from what I had learned previously. The vocabulary was highlighted and dealt with well through out the book, and some of the terms I had forgotten in this context. The trivia at the end of the book goes into more detail about some of the information briefly mentioned elsewhere in the book, and will encourage some readers to study animals or people and their characteristics further. I really like that there was a glossary, further reading, and bibliography included in the end papers for those that are interested enough to do further research and reading. That always makes me happy.

Hair!: Animal Fur, Wool, and More is a well done book and I think it will be a high interest read for children interested in animals and any type of biology. The balance of images and interesting information might make this a favorite, and at least a regular reread for some.