This vividly illustrated book shines a light on the animal kingdom like never before. Perfect for young animal lovers, The Surprising Lives of Animals is a captivating reading experience that will amaze children and deepen their understanding of the world around them. Did you know that some animals giggle and play just like us? Or that certain animals build their homes, stockpile their food, and use tools? In this fascinating book you'll learn about the things that humans and animals have in common. From team work, exercise, and self-care to dancing and getting into trouble, you'll discover that, actually, animals are a lot like you! Visiting underground burrows and grassy savannahs, watery realms, and towering tree tops, this book will take you around the world on a journey of discovery. Meet the monkeys who love to take baths, or the penguins who toboggan for fun. Hear the stories of escaping honey badgers, sneaky spiders, and clever crows. Or find out if animals can really talk. You'll see plenty of Earth's creatures, from creepy crawlies to mega mammals, and you'll learn about their lives, habitats, characteristics, and behaviors-and uncover what makes each of them so surprisingly similar to us humans. Look out for 'Scientist Spotlight' boxes too, to learn about some important scientists and conservationists, such as Sir David Attenborough and Dame Jane Goodall.

This vividly illustrated book shines a light on the animal kingdom like never before. Perfect for young animal lovers, The Surprising Lives of Animals is a captivating reading experience that will amaze children and deepen their understanding of the world around them. Did you know that some animals giggle and play just like us? Or that certain animals build their homes, stockpile their food, and use tools? In this fascinating book you’ll learn about the things that humans and animals have in common. From team work, exercise, and self-care to dancing and getting into trouble, you’ll discover that, actually, animals are a lot like you! Visiting underground burrows and grassy savannahs, watery realms, and towering tree tops, this book will take you around the world on a journey of discovery. Meet the monkeys who love to take baths, or the penguins who toboggan for fun. Hear the stories of escaping honey badgers, sneaky spiders, and clever crows. Or find out if animals can really talk. You’ll see plenty of Earth’s creatures, from creepy crawlies to mega mammals, and you’ll learn about their lives, habitats, characteristics, and behaviors–and uncover what makes each of them so surprisingly similar to us humans. Look out for ‘Scientist Spotlight’ boxes too, to learn about some important scientists and conservationists, such as Sir David Attenborough and Dame Jane Goodall.

Learn some amazing facts relating to over 300 animals.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees, an eye-opening exploration of the extraordinary range of emotions animals experience.

Our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America's lakes and rivers. Goldfarb shares the powerful story about one of the world's most influential species. He explains how North America was colonized, how our landscapes have changed over the centuries, and how beavers can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, extinction, and the ravages of climate change. -- adapted from jacket

A rat will go out of its way to help a stranger in need. Lions have adopted the calves of their prey. Ants farm fungus in cooperatives. Why do we continue to believe that life in the animal kingdom is ruled by competition? In The Social Lives of Animals, biologist Ashley Ward takes us on a wild tour across the globe as he searches for a more accurate picture of how animals build societies. Ward drops in on a termite mating ritual (while his guides snack on the subjects), visits freelance baboon goatherds, and swims with a mixed family of whales and dolphins. Along the way, Ward shows that the social impulses we’ve long thought separated humans from other animals might actually be our strongest connection to them. Insightful, engaging, and often hilarious, The Social Lives of Animals demonstrates that you can learn more about animals by studying how they work together than by how they compete.

Scientists have long counseled against interpreting animal behavior in terms of human emotions, warning that such anthropomorphizing limits our ability to understand animals as they really are. Yet what are we to make of a female gorilla in a German zoo who spent days mourning the death of her baby? Or a wild female elephant who cared for a younger one after she was injured by a rambunctious teenage male? Or a rat who refused to push a lever for food when he saw that doing so caused another rat to be shocked? Aren’t these clear signs that animals have recognizable emotions and moral intelligence? With Wild Justice Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce unequivocally answer yes. Marrying years of behavioral and cognitive research with compelling and moving anecdotes, Bekoff and Pierce reveal that animals exhibit a broad repertoire of moral behaviors, including fairness, empathy, trust, and reciprocity. Underlying these behaviors is a complex and nuanced range of emotions, backed by a high degree of intelligence and surprising behavioral flexibility. Animals, in short, are incredibly adept social beings, relying on rules of conduct to navigate intricate social networks that are essential to their survival. Ultimately, Bekoff and Pierce draw the astonishing conclusion that there is no moral gap between humans and other species: morality is an evolved trait that we unquestionably share with other social mammals. Sure to be controversial, Wild Justice offers not just cutting-edge science, but a provocative call to rethink our relationship with—and our responsibilities toward—our fellow animals.