Jess Keating's Blog, page 5

Cover Reveal and Interview!

One of my favorite things about being an author is getting to unveil something top secret like a new cover!

I’ve received so many letters and emails from young readers about the cover of PINK IS FOR BLOBFISH. Many think our cover model is disgusting—and many think he’s cute! But how do you follow up such an iconic critter in the sequel?!

I’m so happy to say that the amazing team at Knopf knocked it out of the park. Feast your eyes on the cover of the next book in our series, WHAT MAKES A MONS...

What do stingrays and goats have in common?

You can find out in this week’s video!

You don’t think aboutchewing much, do you? Don’t worry, I didn’t either—until I came across the latest research from Dr. Matthew Kolmann! He’s a functional morphologist who studies stingrays, and he recently discovered something pretty amazing about them: they chew their food!

I know, this doesn’t soundthatinteresting, right? But it is! (Especially to nerdy folk like me!) Chew on this: Chewing has been around for about 60-70 million years, and up until...

How to Take Great Photos of a Tiger: Perfume!

Happy Monday!

I had a recent request for a big cat video and decided to break out the chemistry this week!

Wildlife photographers have their work cut out for them. They need to take great pictures, but sometimes getting an animal to pay attention (or even be anywhere near you!) is tough! One trick that wildlife photographers and researchers use is cologne!

By spritzing cologne on the ground or tree trunks, big cats like tigers are instantly on alert. They usually go bonkers for the scent, rub...

Meet the Cat That Survived Three Disastrous Shipwrecks

Hey team!

I’ve got a great new video up on the channel today! I’m debuting a new segment in my Animals for Smart People series called Youtube Animals—all about incredible animals of history! I will be intermingling these videos with my usual science content on the channel!

Sam (his real name was Oskar) was a cat that survived not one, not two, butthree separate shipwrecks during the time of World War II. He may just be one of the luckiest cats in history! (While his comrades on the ships wer...

Sparkly Bat Poop!

Have you ever wondered about bat poop?

No?

Well have I got a treat for you. Check out this week’s Animals for Smart People video for something very, very cool. Spoiler alert: bat poop is SPARKLY!

Have a great week!

September Starts!

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like they should be packing up new pencil case and backpack every time September rolls around? It’s been years since I’ve been in school, but I still get that buzz of excitement when autumn arrives. Cool breezes! Fiery leaves!It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

To celebrate, I’m happy to unveil a new season of Animals for Smart People! If you’re not familiar, this is a fun series about weird animals, science, and general biology nerdiness. Each vi...

National Zookeepers Week!

My pal Josh Funk informed me today that it is National Zookeepers Week! It’s a good day for story time:

As a kid, I always thought it would be so cool to live in a zoo. I wanted hippos and lemurs as neighbors! I even asked my parents if they would let me sneak into the zoo and stay overnight, so I could experience the dream! (They said no, womp womp. And sidenote: they also denied me a trip to Africa so I could find Tarzan, but I digress.)

Many of you know that I grew up and studied Zoology,...

TD Summer Reading Club—SURPRISE!

Hello and happy summer!

When I was a little kid, one of my favorite things in the entire world was summer. No school! Long days paddling in the pool! And my favorite thing of all—weekly visits to my local (teeny tiny!) library!

Back then, we lived just up the road from our public library. Every week, I would bring the biggest tote bag I could find in our house, and toddle up the street. I’d spend hours poring over the library shelves, building a stack of books I could barely carry. My librari...

Introducing ‘Write with Jess Keating’!

Hey gang!

It’s no secret to most of you that I’m a huge fan of producing videos for kids and readers.

Today, I’m happy to reveal a new series! ‘Write with Jess Keating’ is a growing video collectionfor kid readers and writers!

To start, I’m releasing theseten videos that tackle some of the most common writing questions I get from young readers and writers. I often hear from kids that they want to write, but are intimidated to start. Let’s change that! What better way to showcase the importanc...

Nonfiction 10 for 10: Weird Animal Edition

Hey guys!

It’s #nf10for10 day!

When I noticed the #nf10for10 hashtag online last year (hosted by the lovely Cathy Mere, Mandy Robek, and Julie Balen!), I had a field day visiting everybody’s posts and growing my to-read list. This year I wanted to participate! (You can visit here to see everyone’s posts!)

I’ve had a lot of emails from teachers who are having a blast using PINK IS FOR BLOBFISH in their classrooms. This is so great!

So this year, I wanted to give you guys some awesome books yo...