Animal Show-Offs!

Thu, 10/11/2018 - 2:11pm by Lucy S

Did you know that there is fish called the sarcastic fringehead? I learned about this strangely-named, huge-mouthed, sharp-toothed fish from Steve Jenkins and Robin Page in their highly informative and entertaining book, Look at Me! How to attract Attention in the Animal World. This wonderful compendium of demonstrative animal behavior contains many examples of times when animals want to stand out rather than stay hidden.

Jim Arnosky also has a new book about animals called Look at Me! Wild Animal Show-Offs. His captivating illustrations are accompanied by personal details of his observations of unique animal performances in the wild.

Melissa Stewart highlights different outstanding characteristics in the animal world in Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs. Her book takes a humorous approach in presenting facts about those sometimes less admired animals; the ones that sleep the most, smell the worst, or take up the least amount of space. Stephanie Laberis’ illustrations add to the humor.

Another celebration of beastly creatures comes from Kate Gardner in Lovely Beasts:The Surprising Truth. Gardner kindly counters the words we typically associate with certain animals, such as “creepy” for spiders, with a new word, here “crafter,” and a description of how that animal contributes to the world around them. Heidi Smith’s exquisitely detailed illustrations are done with muted colors to underscore the oft unnoticed gentleness of the animal world.