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How to Speak Animal: A Guide to Learning How Animals Communicate

Learn about the secret language of wild animals in this exciting and informative guide from the experts who brought you How to Speak Cat and How to Speak Dog.

We know animals can’t speak and express themselves in the same way as humans … but even the smallest and quietest animals have incredible ways of communicating with each other. With wildlife veterinarian expert Dr. Gabby Wild as a guide, How to Speak Animal helps kids understand how animals communicate through sound, body language, and behavior. It’s full of expert insights and real-life stories of humans exploring ways to “talk” to animals, from teaching great apes sign language to speaking “dolphin.” Packed with super-engaging animal photography that helps illustrate key concepts, this fascinating bookprofiles more than 60 different creatures—from birds to mammals to reptiles and more—and their amazing ways of communicating with each other.

If you’ve ever wondered why gorillas beat their chests and make hooting noises, what it means when chameleons change color, or why some elephants twist their trunks together, this is the book for you!

Complete your collection with:
How to Speak Dog
How to Speak Cat
Fetch! A How to Speak Dog Training Guide
Pounce! A How to Speak Cat Training Guide

176 pages, Library Binding

Published August 16, 2022

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Gabby Wild

2 books7 followers

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5 stars
9 (47%)
4 stars
8 (42%)
3 stars
1 (5%)
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for Nicole M. Hewitt.
Author 1 book361 followers
August 12, 2022
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction

Kids will love this fascinating look at animal communication! The book starts out with an overview of the different ways that animals "talk" to one another using their eyes, ears, noses, bodies and more. Then there's a two-page spread about each animal explaining the secrets of its communication style. The book also includes one or two fun and engaging random facts for each animal (not always specifically related to communication) and special features about certain animals, like primates who were taught to use sign language. Of course, there are plenty of gorgeous, dynamic, and (often) funny photos (this is National Geographic, after all). The book is designed to be flipped through and for kids to read about whatever animals catch their fancy in the moment. And with plenty of eye-catching pages, kids will want to do just that!

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via Rockstar Book Tours so I could provide an honest review. No compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
Profile Image for Stephanie.
1,523 reviews39 followers
August 7, 2022
How to Speak Animal is a good introduction to animal communication.  The book begins by explaining the four major modes of animal communication: auditory, visual, tactile and chemical.  From there, the book is split into four sections for animals on land, in the water, in the air and domesticated animals. Each page features a different animal and gives a rundown on the modes of communication the animal uses, along with how and why.  

Dr. Gabby Wild is a veterinarian and wildlife expert that gives a great introduction on what animal communication is and how it is different from human communication.  The different sections cover a wide variety of animals and modes of communication.  The sections are easy to read and keep it interesting for kids ages 6-11 with cool facts and mesmerizing information.  I enjoyed learning about how chameleons change their color and what it means, how cichlid fish assert dominance with pee, how butterflies create sound with their wings and how goats will gaze at humans when they need help.  Fun and informative, How to Speak Animal provides fun and interesting animal communication facts for kids of all ages. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 
Profile Image for Kailey (Luminous Libro).
3,696 reviews577 followers
July 7, 2023
Animals use lots of ways to communicate with each other through smell, touch, sounds, and visual cues. An albatross can smell the fish in the ocean below before it dives for its prey. Many birds use their colorful display of feathers to attract a mate. But even different species of animals can communicate with each other. Humans can communicate with their pets in a myriad of ways using hand signals, verbal commands, or gentle touch.

In this book we learn about frogs croaking, crickets chirping, elephants trumpeting, wolves howling, and every type of animal call in between! And you had better study, because there is a quiz at the back of the book to test your knowledge!

I love the colorful design of this book. There are hundreds of bright photographs of all these beautiful animals.

The information is really interesting and divided up into sections for each type of animal. There are sections for land animals, ocean animals, birds, and pets or farm animals that are domesticated.

This is such a cool book!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.
Profile Image for Keshia.
521 reviews11 followers
January 24, 2026
This was a really neat book with lots of great information about so many animals and how they communicate. I enjoyed it!
Profile Image for Stacie.
2,000 reviews123 followers
July 8, 2023
Wouldn’t it be great if animals could talk or tell us what they were thinking? I would love to know what is going on in the mind of our cat, Stormy or our friend’s dog, Scout. Instead, we have to learn from their body language to know what they want to say. We know when our cat, Stormy wants her treat because she sits near her dish and meows. Scout, the dog, rolls onto his back when he wants his belly rubbed. But, what about animals we aren’t familiar with like a duck, spider, songbird, or frog?

This book is full of fun facts about 60 different animals and how they communicate with their environment. The animals are grouped by their habitats into four categories, Land, Water, Air, and With or Near Humans. Fun facts, wacky or unusual information and a few paragraphs of information about how the animals communicate are part of each animal’s page-spread.

Animals are mostly reactionary based when it comes to their communication either related to hunger or danger which made sense to me and usually communicate the same way each time, like our cat that sits by her bowl meowing. While humans have lots of ways that we communicate with other humans. You will find that animals use their senses to communicate either through hearing like birds chirping back and forth, touch, smell (a dog loves to smell while out for a walk), and visual. Symbols are used on each animal’s page to show what sense they use to communicate. A sloth uses hearing, smelling, and touch because they can’t see very far with their eyes.

As always, you’ll find excellent photography of each animal thanks to National Geographic's amazing photographers. Kids will love the unusual facts and Dr. Wild’s informational boxes from her own experience. Because this book has more reading, this is a great choice for older elementary and middle-grade readers, but younger readers will enjoy the photos and brief fact boxes.
Profile Image for Debbie.
1,036 reviews11 followers
August 23, 2022
It only took a cursory glance through this book to realize what a gem I was holding. The beautiful pictures, bright colors, and slick pages that National Geographic is known for definitely had my attention.

The 176-page book begins by explaining the best way to use it. And at the back of the book are resources with more information.

As I began reading, I appreciated the fun way that each animal’s information was presented. Even the different ways that animals talk to one another were displayed by cute symbols: ear (auditory), eye (visual, hand (tactile), and nose (smelling/sensing). And, of course, the pictures accompanying each animal were exactly what I’d expect from this publisher.

Any idea how an ant communicates? You will learn how and the fact that their communication keeps their colonies organized.

The book features more than 60 animals with detailed explanations. Get ready to celebrate these fabulous creatures in a fun new way.

My Concerns
Nothing

Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a classroom book, a gift for an animal-lover, a donation for a library, or even a gift for yourself, consider How To Speak Animal.

This is an easy thumbs up. I loved that the information was never too long or complicated to make me think a child would lose interest.

My thanks to Rockstar Tours and the publisher for a gifted copy of this book and the ability to freely review it.
Profile Image for Kari.
765 reviews36 followers
August 24, 2022
This was such a delightful read and I absolutely love anything by National Geographic. Although this is geared towards kids, I found this to be so entertaining and educational on learning the many facets of how animals can communicate.

It is so surprising to learn that horses can be taught to communicate with their handlers in letting them know what they need by touching its muzzle to a board! And the many types of senses each individual animal uses to communicate is fascinating.

Animals can communicate in so many ways: auditory, visual, touch and smell. They use these as a method of communicating by howls or even sounds so high that it cannot be detected by humans. Some animals use the visual method by changing color or many other forms depending on the animal. Touch can be communicated via animals to communicate while grooming. And smell, like a skunk, a predator can be quickly deterred with the he pheromones that are sprayed.

This is a great book for both kids and adults alike. I definitely recommend for any animal lover but definitely for any kid that loves great pictures, animals and a whole lot of fun facts.
Profile Image for enjoyingbooksagain.
829 reviews73 followers
August 28, 2022
My Thoughts:
As a kid I would always be the one rescuing the baby birds or feeding the stray cats so when I seen this book I had to read it and I absolutely love this book! I have learned so much about so many different animals. Like Did you know that the male turkey poops in the shape of a J and the female poops in a spiral shape who knew that ? Or in a storm the skeleton of a marine Iguana shrinks up to 20% then grows back once the weather clears or a great white shark can detect blood underwater from up to 3 miles away. These are just some examples that you can learn from this book. If you have young children that show interest or love animals like I do I would pick this up for them or for yourself you will be surprised at all the information you will learn about animals
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews