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Animal Baths
From feathers to fur and scales to skin, ANIMAL BATHS explores the fun and creative ways the world's animals get clean. Human baths are kinda boring: all you need is soap, water, and a fluffy towel. Animal baths, however, are great fun. Imagine rolling in dust or mud to get clean like horses, elephants, and rhinoceros do. Imagine using your paws and your spit like cats, squirrels, and rabbits do. Imagine cleaning yourself by shedding your outer layer of skin like snakes, frogs, and lizards do. Tired of cleaning yourself every day? Just get someone else to do your dirty work. Water buffalo and giraffes use birds to clean their fur, while zebras use their large teeth to clean a friend's fur. Monkeys and lemurs have their fur groomed by close friends and relatives, while turtles and coral animals have their shells and surfaces cleaned by fish and shrimp.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 31, 2021
3.5 STARS This is a lot of fun! The kids loved it. I mean, the first chapter is titled "Mud, Dust & Poop (Yes, Poop!)" and explains that some animals actually get "dirty" to get clean-- you've probably heard of animals taking dust baths, but did you know that the turkey vulture cleans its legs after standing in carrion by squirting its poop (which contains antibacterial chemicals) all over them!? I appreciate that the text doesn't go over the top on the "ew!" factor, though.
The next chapter is "Tongues, Claws & Teeth: Who needs a washcloth and soap?" Again, some of these are pretty obvious (cat baths!) but some were a bit more interesting to me... female vampire bats also groom other female bats -- when one female is done grooming the other, the bat who was groomed says "thank you" by puking up some food and giving it to the groomer. ("The next time your mom helps you clean your hair or your skin, be glad you didn't have to say thank-you with a little puke" -- LOL.) So, if you're sensitive about things like poop and puke, this probably isn't the book for you though that really isn't the main focus... just the bits I didn't know about so am highlighting for the review.
Final chapter is "Scamming, Shedding & Slamming: Get someone else to clean you or just ditch your dirty skin!" Mentions practices I knew about already, like oxpecker birds that eat parasites off buffalo and antelope, and chimpanzees grooming one another... but I had never heard of "anting bird baths"! That's right, 250 different types of birds use ants to clean their feathers! The bird kicks or lies on top of an ant mound, the ants climb onto the bird and spray their defense chemical (formic acid) into the birds feathers, and the formic acid kills small bugs and bacteria living in the birds feathers! Isn't nature amazing!? (For those curious about "slamming" -- some fish clean their scales by body slamming rocks -- parasites and dead scales fall off or stick to the rock!)
We really had a great time with this book and learned some new animal behaviors (and we read a lot of animal books, so it takes something out of the ordinary to surprise us!) I would give it a full four stars if it had a bibliography but, alas, it has only an index. The publisher, EarlyLight Books, is a "Nationally Recognized, Award-Winning Publisher of Children's Science Books" and we will look for more of their books.
The next chapter is "Tongues, Claws & Teeth: Who needs a washcloth and soap?" Again, some of these are pretty obvious (cat baths!) but some were a bit more interesting to me... female vampire bats also groom other female bats -- when one female is done grooming the other, the bat who was groomed says "thank you" by puking up some food and giving it to the groomer. ("The next time your mom helps you clean your hair or your skin, be glad you didn't have to say thank-you with a little puke" -- LOL.) So, if you're sensitive about things like poop and puke, this probably isn't the book for you though that really isn't the main focus... just the bits I didn't know about so am highlighting for the review.
Final chapter is "Scamming, Shedding & Slamming: Get someone else to clean you or just ditch your dirty skin!" Mentions practices I knew about already, like oxpecker birds that eat parasites off buffalo and antelope, and chimpanzees grooming one another... but I had never heard of "anting bird baths"! That's right, 250 different types of birds use ants to clean their feathers! The bird kicks or lies on top of an ant mound, the ants climb onto the bird and spray their defense chemical (formic acid) into the birds feathers, and the formic acid kills small bugs and bacteria living in the birds feathers! Isn't nature amazing!? (For those curious about "slamming" -- some fish clean their scales by body slamming rocks -- parasites and dead scales fall off or stick to the rock!)
We really had a great time with this book and learned some new animal behaviors (and we read a lot of animal books, so it takes something out of the ordinary to surprise us!) I would give it a full four stars if it had a bibliography but, alas, it has only an index. The publisher, EarlyLight Books, is a "Nationally Recognized, Award-Winning Publisher of Children's Science Books" and we will look for more of their books.
December 21, 2009
You probably take a bath or shower every day, but did you know that some animals bathe 40-50 times a day? While people can go to a doctor if we get sick, animals in the wild cannot, so keeping clean is one of their top priorities. Which animal uses poop to clean itself? Which relative of the horse helps clean its herd-mates? Find answers to these and much more in Animal Baths.
This is an interesting title and will attract kids browsing for some recreational reading, though it probably does not include enough information for reports. Each animal gets a spread with a painting and a page of information about its bathing habits. Information was occasionally redundant (several animals use mud and/or dust to bathe, several mammals partner with birds who pluck bugs off their backs) and I occasionally wished for more information (450 types of birds take "ant baths", but there's no mention of what some of the types are...). It will please young animal fans who are interested in trivia.
This is an interesting title and will attract kids browsing for some recreational reading, though it probably does not include enough information for reports. Each animal gets a spread with a painting and a page of information about its bathing habits. Information was occasionally redundant (several animals use mud and/or dust to bathe, several mammals partner with birds who pluck bugs off their backs) and I occasionally wished for more information (450 types of birds take "ant baths", but there's no mention of what some of the types are...). It will please young animal fans who are interested in trivia.
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March 22, 2010This book is for all the children that wonder why they have to take baths when animals do not. This book tells how animals get and stay clean.
The three sections of this book grab the reader’s attention. The first section even talks about how animals use poop to get clean. I really liked how this book went further than the average animals. I would use this book in my classroom for a variety of reasons. Children will love to hear that little birds are seen on animals for a reason. The parts in this book that will make students really want to keep reading this book is for learning about how snakes, frogs and lizards rub themselves against rocks to start to shed their skins.
The three sections of this book grab the reader’s attention. The first section even talks about how animals use poop to get clean. I really liked how this book went further than the average animals. I would use this book in my classroom for a variety of reasons. Children will love to hear that little birds are seen on animals for a reason. The parts in this book that will make students really want to keep reading this book is for learning about how snakes, frogs and lizards rub themselves against rocks to start to shed their skins.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews