A Last Hurrah for Bugs

Summer is definitely over, but fortunately* there’s still plenty of bugs all around us. Here are three books for bug-watchers who don't mind pulling on a sweatshirt. 

*my point of view. I realize other folks may have different feelings….

Themes: insects, evolution, nature

Bugs: A Skittery, Jittery History 

by Miriam Forster; illus. by Gordy Wright 

80 pages; ages 6-9+

‎Harry N. Abrams, 2024

“Bugs are everywhere,” writes Miriam Forster, noting they live in Antarctica, on the desert sands of the Sahara, and in the highest mountains on Earth. And they’ve been here forever – or at least for the past 520 million years or so. This oversize, beautifully illustrated book begins with an introduction to what makes a “bug” and a review of the classification system scientists use. Two-page sections show the evolutionary history and biology of arthropods, from trilobites to termites. 

What I like about this book: At the top of the first page of every section there’s a geologic timeline that runs from Cambrian to Quaternary. An icon of the bug sits above the appropriate period, with a note below about when it first showed up in the fossil record. There’s a “Did You Know” fact, a Toolbox, and a sidebar. The Toolbox is where you’ll find out more about how bugs breathe, segmentation, eyes, legs and other body parts, and behavioral adaptations. Sidebars focus on cool things such as modern-day relatives of the prehistoric critters, biomimicry, and how to distinguish a millipede from a centipede.

Back matter – yes, even with all that info there IS back matter – includes how to make a bug-catching kit, how to handle insects, and how to help bugs. The only thing that might make this book even better would be a table of contents. 

Bella Loves Bugs: A Fact-filled Nature Adventure Bursting with Bugs! (Nature Heroes, 2) 

by Jess French; illus. by Duncan Beedie 

48 pages; ages 4-7

Happy Yak/ Quarto, 2022

Hello, I’m Bella. I love bugs. When I grow up, I want to be an entomologist – that’s someone who studies insects.

Spend a day with Bella and her spider side-kick, and get to know the insects that live in her neighborhood. You’ll probably find many of them around your own yard! She finds ants, bees, and butterflies. She hops with crickets and checks the beetles in her tumble trap. At the end of the day she sets up a sheet and a light for an evening of moth-watching.

What I like about this book: I like how illustrator, Duncan Beedie incorporates graphic novel-type panels and speech bubbles. I like the sidebar pages that highlight such things as aquatic insects, metamorphosis, and twelve sparkly beetles. And I like the back matter that shows kids how they can be a nature hero for bugs.

One Day a Mayfly 

by Shirley Marr; illus by Michael Speechley

40 pages; ages 4-8

Candlewick, 2025

One bright morning, Mayfly emerges. 

Nobody notices except a little girl. And the frog who warns the mayfly that the world out there will eat her up. "Not that it matters. You'll only live for one day, anyway." But one day can be an astonishing amount of time for a tiny insect. Mayfly takes flight and leads readers - and the girl - on a tour around the park.

What I like about this book: What an imaginative way to introduce a short-lived creature! Mayflies are in the insect order, Ephemeroptera, as the adults live only a day or so. [The juveniles (larvae) are aquatic and, depending on species, may live up to a year before emerging as adults.] 

I like that there's a lot of "one day" word play in the illustrations: Day in Units; Day out Apartments, Daydream travel agency... I like that Mayfly could go on unknown adventures, but discovers that there are so many surprises nearby. I love that Mayfly wears a party hat but has no mouth. And I love that the adventures of Mayfly and the girl come back full circle to where they started, connecting with family - old and newly acquired.

One thing that is interesting about this book is that you have to turn it to read it. Like a calendar. Indeed, both front and back end pages are calendars that add context to the story. While a fun way to present a story, I found it awkward to flip pages up instead of right to left. At the end of the book, I found myself wanting to know more about mayflies: why didn't the mayfly have a mouth? Why do they live only one day? Do they really hatch in May?

Beyond the Books:

Go on a bug hike. Look for bugs that are on the ground, in a pond, on a tree, on flowers, or flying through the air. Set a timer. How many bugs do you see in five minutes?

Draw pictures of bugs you see outside your house, or that you saw on your bug walk. Or visit an insect house at a zoo or museum and draw your favorite bugs that you see there.

Be a bug! Even if for only a day! Make yourself a pair of antennae. You’ll need: a paper bag, pipe cleaners, tape, scissors. Here’s how. Mine are straight because I was being a fly that day – and also, I had to substitute a couple straws instead of pipe cleaners. I also made designs on my headband. Be creative! Extra points if you can make yourself a pair of wings!

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. And on Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy of  One Day a Mayfly from publisher. Other books  from the library.

A Deep Dive into the Scopes Trial

 

A Dangerous Idea: The Scopes Trial, the Original Fight over Science in Schools 

by Debbie Levy 

288 pages; ages 10-14 

Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2025 

This is a book about a science teacher who was simply doing his job when someone pointed out that teaching what was in the text book was now illegal.

This is a book about two lawyers whose words could sway public opinion.

This is a book about a simple idea: that living organisms change over time, in response to environmental pressures, and those changes are passed on to their offspring.

This is a book about an idea so dangerous that it threatened to rip apart the fabric of society, pitting devoutly religious (but scientifically uneducated) people against scientifically literate (and in many cases devoutly religious) people.

And it all started with a meeting at the soda fountain in Robinson’s Drug Store in Dayton, Tennessee on a warm afternoon in May. The mayor wanted to put his town on the map. Two months earlier, the governor had signed into law the Butler Act, which barred teachers from teaching evolution. John Scopes, hired to teach physics and math and – especially – coach football, was filling in for the biology teacher who’d been sick. And the folks at the soda fountain wanted to know: have you been teaching evolution? When Scopes said yes, they asked whether he’d be interested in standing for a test case to challenge the law. With that, the local constable arrested him (then let him go to finish playing tennis with his students), and the rest is … 

... history. Author, Debbie Levy weaves facts gleaned from extensive research and primary sources into a gripping tale that makes you wish all history books were this fun to read. She shows the evolution of Clarence Darrow from baseball player to lawyer to defender of unions and freethinkers. She shows the development of William Jennings Bryan from studious child to debate team to brilliant orator and lawyer. She shows the evolution of the idea of natural selection, highlighting that even though scientists at the time of Darwin were fuzzy on the details (Mendel’s work came to light two years after Darwin’s death), they “were not fuzzy about the fact that evolutionary change happened” and that inherited traits played a role.

Levy pulls together history and science for this deep dive into the 1925 Scopes Trial. She provides insights into the various party’s motivations and also addresses interrelated topics of racism, white supremacy, and eugenics. I particularly like the final chapters. She examines the evolution of thought about Evolution, tracing it through the national politics of 80s up to now. I’ve been asked many times whether I “believe” in evolution – but not once has anyone asked me whether I “believe” in gravity. She also examines the persistence of resistance to science. “Is it because scientific theories aren’t well understood?" she asks. "Is it because they make people uncomfortable?” Is it the same thing that makes people resistant to historical facts?

Back matter includes a timeline, source notes, and an index – all of which make this an extremely handy book to have in your classroom or library. I give it 5 trilobites!

 

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

How the Sea Came to Be

I’m always on the lookout for good books that show evolution of life on our planet. I can’t believe I missed this one when it came out last spring – but I got a copy last month and I’m glad I did. It’s lovely! Just look at the gorgeous cover art ...

How the Sea Came to Be (And All the Creatures In It)  

by Jennifer Berne; illus. by Amanda Hall 

56 pages; ages 6-10

‎Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2023

theme: ocean, marine animals, evolution

Billions and billions of years long ago,

when the Earth was young and new,

the world was so hot, rock melted and boiled,

and fiery, wild winds blew.

The birth of our planet was hot and sizzly. Volcanoes exploded. Asteroids crashed from the sky. But over time our planet began to cool. Rains washed into low spots, filling oceans and creating habitat ripe for emerging life. Simple organisms paved the way for ribbed and frilled creatures, spongy clusters clinging to rock, worms, trilobites … eventually fish.

What I like love about this book: I love the language in this book! So many verbs. The young Earth sizzles, simmers, bubbles and burbles. As it cools, the crust heaves and puckers, wrinkles and bulges. I love that you have to turn the book, at one point, to get a vertical view of the deep, deep sea. The lyrical language introduces young readers (and listeners) to geology, oceanography, marine biology, and the diversity of life that has inhabited the seas over four and a half billion years.

And there is Back Matter! We are still discovering, still learning, says Jennifer Berne in her author’s note. Gate-folds open to show more about ocean creatures through time. There’s a glossary of key terms and concepts, and lots of resources: books, videos, webpages, museums and aquariums. This book is a tremendous resource for any classroom – and guaranteed to ignite the imagination of any child interested in the ocean.

Beyond the Books:

Visit a museum and look at the displays of fossils of ancient sea life. My favorites are trilobites!

Check out this video of Trilobites (here). Remember when I said trilobites are my faves?

Write or draw a story about exploring the ocean and some ancient creatures you find.

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Since this book also appeals to older readers, look for us on Monday over at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Evolution and Future Technology: two middle grade books for mid-winter

I really try to review all the books that end up in my book basket, especially if I’ve requested them. But look! It’s the End Of January and I still have a dozen books from last year that I Haven’t Gotten To. Yet. So today I have a two-fer: two fun nonfiction books for middle-grade readers that came out in the fall.

The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers: A Tour of Your Useless Parts, Flaws, and Other Weird Bits 

by Rachel Poliquin; illus. by Clayton Hanmer 

88 pages; ages 7-11

‎Greystone Kids, 2022 

I loved this book from the moment I opened to the table of contents – which is set up like a map to the museum. And yes, there is a café and a gift shop, as well washrooms (located conveniently next to the Scurvy exhibit). I’m gonna steal a bit from the back cover, which is a perfect introduction to the book:

Did you know your amazing, incredible body is a living, breathing museum of evolution? Look closely and you’ll find bits and pieces that were useful way back when our lives were very different from what they are today.

Like back when wisdom teeth were perfectly fine and would have served humans well, but then some folks discovered farming… which allowed them to grow grains and eat mushy food and now who needs those big back molars? There’s an entire exhibit – er, section – devoted to monkey muscles, a leftover from when our monkey ancestors walked on all four feet. There’s a hands-on test to see if you have monkey muscles in your arms – and a toes-on test to see if you have any in your feet. If you disregard the signs and sneak into the museum storage, you can find even more cool left-overs, including the appendix (I personally don’t use mine, but it’s hanging around anyway).

This book not only gives readers a fun tour of vestigial structures, but a breezy look at evolution. Though it’s more the dark side of evolution: the things that didn’t quite work out or weren’t needed anymore as creatures evolved to fill new niches. I mean … think about the poor whales with hip bones they haven’t used since their great-great-greats gave up walking on four legs!

Superpower? The Wearable-Tech Revolution 

by Elaine Kachala; illus. by Belle Wuthrich 

112 pages; ages 9-12

‎Orca Book Publishers, 2022

Super strength. Super hearing. Super vision… superpowers through wearable technology! This used to be the stuff of sci-fi and now it’s coming to a place near you. And sooner than you think. We already have smart glasses, smart watches, smart phones and continuous glucose monitors. As author Elaine Kachala points out, we are in the midst of a fourth industrial revolution.

This book is divided into five chapters, beginning with explaining what wearable tech is. It’s more than just strapping on a computer. Wearable tech is a synergistic combination of textiles and technology. And an extension of what started ages ago with the first person strapping on a wristwatch. What’s beyond the Fitbits, VR headsets, and body cams? 

The thing is, Kachala notes, wearable tech changes our lives. Think about how prosthetic limbs have changed what people can do, and how augmented reality layers graphics over the real world (as in the Pokemon Go game). Not only that, wearables augment our “human-ness.” She provides examples of engineering tissues and organs, wound-healing technology, and the possibilities of brain-computer interfaces. Then Kachala dives into issues of privacy, safety, and ethical questions. Packed with sidebars about tech and backmatter, this is a book that will have young people brainstorming their future and possible evolution of our species. 

I invited Elaine over to the blog for a One Question interview.

Me: So do you sport any wearable tech? I don't even have a fitbit, but I do use my phone to track steps. It's in my pocket... does that count?

Elaine: I'm an avid exerciser, almost daily, but so far I don't use a wearable for exercise. I've had (human) gym coaches in the past and now I use programs like Peleton. I find coaching vs just tracking more useful. But I do have a wearable - it's a brain-wave sensing headband called Muse. Sport wearables are getting pretty sophisticated though, with coaching abilities, so I might just invest one day soon. As for your phone: Nope! It does not count as a wearable. Wearables are devices that are on, in or attached to your body.

Elaine is a member of #STEAMTeam2022. She and Natalie Aguirre had a great conversation about Superpower? over at Natalie’s blog, Literary Rambles. You can find out more about Elaine at her website and follow her on Facebook

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copies provided by the publishers.

How to Build a Human

 How to Build a Human: In Seven Evolutionary Steps 

by Pamela S. Turner; illus. by John Gurche 

176 pages; ages 10-13

‎Charlesbridge, 2022

This book tells the story of a winding evolutionary path of just one of the millions of species that have evolved on this planet over the last 3.5 billion years or so. It is the story if us, Homo sapiens, and boy, what a long, strange trip it’s been. Because, as author Pamela Turner points out, understanding our evolutionary history by looking at the fossil record “is like trying to figure out a complex movie plot based on just a few screenshots.”

Pamela distills the history of the human species into seven easy pieces. Okay, not so easy, because our human ancestors were tested by the environment every step of the way. And those traits that aided survival were passed on to ensuing generations.

The first step: Standing Up. Is walking on two legs more advantageous than walking on four? Apparently for our evolutionary pathway – at least so far. Next step: We Smash Rocks – aka: creating and using tools. Fact is, humans aren’t the only animal to use tools. Chimps use twigs to extract termites from logs, and crows use tools as well. But we are the only animal to use one tool (rock) to craft another tool (sharp edged flake for cutting). Other steps include: migrating, using fire, developing language, and telling stories. 

What I like about this book: Pamela makes it clear that there are often more than one species of hominids living at the same time, representing multiple ways to solve the problem of living in their landscape. Aside from her straightforward explanation of natural selection, I enjoyed the occasional footnote. I also like her explanation of how natural selection works on whatever is there. “A trait doesn’t have to be perfect or optimal to be passed on,” she writes, noting that if evolution had a motto it would be: Good Enough. In every chapter she emphasizes that, for new traits in a population, the environment tests and the environment selects. 

Plus there is back matter! Pamela goes into race (a cultural construct), genetic drift, fossils, climate shifts, as well as timelines and resources for curious readers.

I enjoyed this book SO much that I had to ask Pamela a couple of questions. She was gracious enough to answer them…

me: So how did you come to the structure - and these seven steps in particular?

Pamela: The structure came about because I had always liked reading about human evolution but I felt like the lede got buried. The conventional approach is to spend a lot of time discussing who found what fossil when and how the discovery was received by the scientific community. In other words, a lot of emphasis on the history of paleoanthropology. And typically as a reader a LOT of confusing species names are thrown at you, especially since hominin species names have changed over time, or fossils have been shifted from one species to another as scientific understanding has improved. 

I decided I would focus on the seven most important changes from point A (the last common ancestor with chimps and bonobos) to point B (anatomically and cognitively modern humans). Seven of course has a certain cache. I came up with six of the steps right away--all were fairly obvious. The one that was least obvious was "We Take a Hike" (Step 4), which I wrestled with until I realized that expansion out of Africa was intimately tied to our ability to acquire ecological knowledge and pass it on to others. In other words, teaching and learning.

me:  Do you worry about the political (and anti-intellectual) environment surrounding books in schools and libraries? 

Pamela: The anti-intellectual environment surrounding books and libraries actually galvanizes me. A few years ago a reviewer of The Dolphins Of Shark Bay wrote something like: “It's a terrific book, except for all the evolution stuff.” Which inspired me to focus even more on “the evolution stuff” in Crow Smarts and, of course, How To Build A Human. 

I know Human is going to be challenged by Biblical literalists. My personal opinion (I was raised Southern Baptist) is that there are many notable passages in which Biblical authors describe the world in lovely, poetic language meant to invoke emotion, and that it’s unfair to expect the Bible to function simultaneously as poetry and biology textbook. We don’t, for example, draw principles of physics from the Bible. Job 26:7 says “[God] hangeth the earth upon nothing” but I've never heard anyone say that Job 26:7 negates Newtonian physics.

Thank you so much, Pamela! You can find out more about her and the books she’s written at her website. Also check out my reviews of her books, Crow Smarts and Samurai Rising (fast-paced biography)

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Get a Peek at These Beaks!

A Peek at Beaks: Tools Birds Use 

by Sara Levine; illus. by Kate Slater

32 pages; ages 5-9

Millbrook Press, 2021

theme: birds, adaptation, science

Have you ever imagined you were a bird?

Wings would be cool, for sure. But, as Sara shows, beaks are even more cool because they are built-in tools that can help comb your feathers, scoop up food, and even show how you feel. A puzzle or mystery is presented as a question: What kind of bird has a beak that works as a strainer (or a straw or a net or….)? Take a guess, then flip the page to find out whether you are right.

What I like about this book: I like the Q & A format. And when you flip the page and discover the bird that has the beak that serves that particular purpose, Sara has another surprise. An * that highlights a text box with a list of other birds with that sort of beak. So there are more than one answer! I also like that the last question is what kind of bird uses its beak to show some love… And how you can show some love for the birds – and their amazing beaks. And there is Back Matter! A wonderful explanation of how bird beaks change (evolve) over time, plus some extra reading for kids with birds on the brain.

After peeking at all these beaks I knew I had to ask Sara One Question:

Me: If you were a bird, what kind of beaky tool would you want - and how would you use it?

Sara: What a fun question! My first thought is that I’d want the type of beak that could be used to type, as I have a lot of writing to do. But, on second thought, maybe it’s better to stick with a “realistic” response – one covered in the book. And also a response that is more true for me. So, what I’d want is a beak that can be used to show some love. Readers who want to know which birds have this sort of beak will have to read the book to find out.

Beyond the Books:

What kinds of beaks do birds have in your neighborhood or local park? Sit quietly and watch some birds. Do they have thick beaks? Thin beaks? Long, hooked beaks? Flat spoon-shaped beaks? Draw some of the bird beaks you see.

Eat like a bird. Here’s a fun activity to test different beak types and food. You can add a straw and something slurpy.

Sara is a member of #STEAMTeam2021. You can find out more about her at her website.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by the publisher.

It's a Bird! It's a Dinosaur! It's Chicken Frank!

 I love dinosaurs - who doesn't! And I love chicken, especially when it's seasoned with .... I mean, I love the diversity of chickens and their personalities, and the cool way they chuckle and talk to each other. So of course I love this brand new out-in-the-world today book: 

Chicken Frank, Dinosaur! 

by S. K. Wenger; illus. by Jojo Ensslin 

32 pages; ages 4-7

Albert Whitman & Company, 2021 

theme: birds, dinosaurs, science

"What’s That?”

“A DNA test. To find another dinosaur, like me!”

Frank is not an ordinary chicken. He’s a chicken who knows his ancestors. And by ancestors, he means dinosaurs. More precisely, theropods – though Frank is pretty sure T. rex is one of his parent’s parent’s parent’s ….. parent. His evidence: three-toed feet, feathers that are modified scales, and an embryonic tail. 

What I like about this book: It is told in dialog, accompanied by chicken-scratched diagrams in the dirt and the occasional ultrasound or chalkboard chart. While it is true that chickens don’t talk (or at least speak English) or lecture on evolution, this book is filled with facts, and it is very, very funny. Also, there is back matter ~ with a discussion of similarities between dinos and chickens as well as some frank facts about evolution and a glossary of Frank’s favorite animal groups (which includes Lepidosaurs! one of my faves, too!).

This book was SO much fun to read that I just had to ask the author, Shaunda Two Questions:

Me: You don’t describe evolution in the text, so our understanding of how birds are related to dinosaurs (and their kin) relies on illustrations. What sort of art notes did you include?

Shaunda: I included three art notes with the original manuscript, and they were very brief and hinted at images the illustrator might draw, like [uses hand lens] to help convey the scale of the content. I wanted the editor to have room to form her own images in her head, rather than try to insert my own ideas which would take her out of the flow of the story. I suspected the editor had a background in science (since she edited these types of books), so I trusted that and kept the art notes to a bare minimum. I wanted the editor to fall in love with the characters first. Any supporting content could be provided as needed. And it was—after the illustrator began his work and the editors began looking more closely at the text. Eventually, they asked for backmatter and a glossary.

Me: What challenges did you face writing a book entirely in dialogue?

Shaunda: It took a “hard push” in the form of a rejection letter from the publisher to get me to write Chicken Frank, Dinosaur! in dialogue. The original manuscript was conceived and drafted in traditional narrative prose with a character arc. However, the publisher wanted the story to move more quickly with snappy dialogue. Through the revise and resubmit process, inserting more dialogue and trimming the narrative with the editor’s guidance didn’t quite mesh with the publisher’s vision. In the end, the original manuscript was scrapped with a rejection. 

I suppose sometimes we creatives need that kind of “hard push.” And it worked for me, because writing the straight dialogue happened in a 3-am wake-up call from my muse shortly thereafter. The dialogue-only draft was written by hand in speedy-fashion in an hour. After some feedback from my critique group, it was ready to go back to the same publisher (although it took me a few months to find courage to do this). But I really believed my new version was exactly what the publisher had been asking for, so I sent it for consideration since we had worked so hard on the original story together. The rest is wonderful history!

For dialogue-only stories, my advice is to write a solid story in narrative-form first. Shape up the character development, arc, and emotional layers with your critique partners. Then transform it into comic-book/graphic novel style. By this stage, you’ll know what definitely needs to be seen in the text and what can be supported by illustrations.

Shaunda is a member of #STEAMTeam2021. You can find out more about her at her website.

Beyond the Books:

Find similarities between a chicken and a dinosaur. Materials needed: a book (or books) showing dinosaurs, and a chicken. If you don’t have a chicken hanging around your house, a good photo will do. Look at their feet and their arms/wings. If you have chicken parts remaining from a meal, look at the bones. Are they hollow inside?

Learn more about how chickens are related to dinos. Here's one place to check out.

Make some dinosaur print cookies with Shaunda! Here’s a video showing how. If you don’t have a dino-foodpring cookie cutter, you can draw one on a cereal box. Then put it on the rolled out cookie dough and cut around the shape with a sharp knife.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review ARC provided by the publisher.

We Came Out of the Blue

Out of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas 

by Elizabeth Shreeve; illus. by Frann Preston-Gannon

32 pages; ages 6-9

Candlewick, 2021

theme: prehistoric life, evolution, STEM

Life began in the vast empty sea, when Earth was young.

From single-celled microbes to dinosaurs and beyond, this book takes readers on a fantastic journey. First stop: the Edicaran period, 546 to 635 million years ago. Back then, the sea was filled with “strange and squishy creatures.” At the end of that period there was an explosion of diversity. Millions of years passed, through another couple periods and then: fish! insects! mollusks! It is the Devonian period (359-419 million years ago).

What I like about this book: It is wonderful storytelling about life, the universe, and extinction after extinction. And yet, some of those early animals survived to populate the land and change. I love the artwork, too.

This Friday is the start of Cephalopod Week, where folks celebrate cuttlefish, octopuses, and squid, so I had to ask Elizabeth One Question: What is your favorite cephalopod?

 

Elizabeth: Oh, this is a tough choice but I’ve got to say…ammonites! These amazing mollusks emerged over 400 million years ago, made it through the Permian Extinction 252 million years ago when 96% of marine species disappeared (phew!), and exploded into many different sizes and shapes during the Triassic. Ammonites swam backwards using their tentacles for jet propulsion, a seemingly inefficient technique that kept them zooming around for around 350 million years.

In fact, ammonites (ammonoids) are one of the most successful animals of all time. Over 10,000 different species once inhabited Earth’s oceans, and their distinctive shapes provide important index fossils wherever oceans once existed. Some were shaped like ice cream cones or paper clips, but most were spiral. These were the cinnamon buns of the prehistoric seas! Some even had spikes! Ammonites disappeared in the same extinction that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago. But their fabulous cephalopod relatives live on, including squid, octopuses, and cuttlefish.

Beyond the Books:

Learn more about the geologic time scale here.  

Check out Elizabeth’s video introducing Out of the Blue and why she wrote it here. She’s made a series of videos about different creatures, from ancient to modern times. You can learn about the many creatures featured in her book at her collection of videos.

Learn more about cephalopods over at the Science Friday website. There are links to virtual tours and even a movie night - all happening over the next few days.

Elizabeth is a member of #STEAMTeam2021. You can find out more about her at her website.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Darwin's Rival: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Search for Evolution

When you think about the theory of evolution, chances are you think about Charles Darwin. He's the one who came up with the idea, right? The truth is a bit messier...

Darwin's Rival: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Search for Evolution
by Christiane Dorion; illustrated by Harry Tennant
64 pages; ages 10 - 14
Candlewick Studio, 2020

“In June 1858, the prominent scientist Charles Darwin received a letter from a young British explorer and naturalist… it proposed a new idea to explain how living things evolved over time.”

That young explorer’s name was Alfred Russel Wallace. Born at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in what is now Wales, he worked as a surveyor. As he tramped around the hills he developed a keen interest in nature and science – and began collecting beetles. At that time some naturalists were proposing a daring idea: that living things gradually change over time.

Wallace wanted to learn more, so in 1848 he boarded a cargo ship bound for Brazil and spent the next four years exploring and mapping a river, collecting fish and birds and insects.

This is the tale of exploration, field research, shipwrecks, and a friendship between two naturalists that evolved over time. Both Wallace and Darwin wrote about natural selection and the evolution of new species. It was Wallace’s letter that prompted Darwin to write his book, On the Origin of Species. Rather than competing against each other for credit, both tried hard to treat each other fairly – to the benefit of all.

What I like about this book: At its heart, it’s an adventure story. There are maps showing Wallace’s routes, spreads showing diversity of beetles and butterflies and birds, and some great historical perspectives.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Beetle Battles!

Beetle Battles: One Scientist's Journey of Adventure and Discovery 
by Douglas J. Emlen
176 pages; ages 8 - 12
Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Doug Emlen has been obsessed with big weapons for as long as he can remember: mastodon tusks and triceratops horns, moose antlers and all other sharp and dangerous things on display at the natural history museum. Now, a professor of biology in Montana, he continues with his passion, studying antlers, horns, tusks. It just so happens that those weapons belong to beetles – and some of the species “…so small that their weapons only become apparent with a microscope,” he writes.

In this book, Emlen takes us into the field as he determines to find a bizarre animal to study in an exotic location. And that meant searching for beetles. The cool thing about beetle weapons: they come in so many sized and shapes. Some are stubby, some long and slender, some like crowbars, some like sabers. They may look small to us, but relative to their body size, beetle weapons can be huge. For example, mammoth tusks represent 3% of the animal’s body weight; a beetle’s horns can be 30% of its body weight.

Emlen’s book begins with great hopes to study a rhinoceros beetle – but (as happens in science) he could not find a large enough population to study. So he switched to dung beetles – of which there is no dearth of supply! Emlen takes readers along on his adventure to Barro Colorado, where we learn what it takes to “do science.” His days are filled with designing experiments, collecting data, analyzing date, rethinking the experiments (when they don’t work), and doing it all again.

What I like about this book: I like the journal entries interspersed through the book, and the wonderful photos. I like his no-nonsense tips on collecting monkey dung. And I really like how he follows the logic of animal weapons to military weapons and the arms race. There’s a wonderful chapter in which he compares his “sneaky beetles” to cyberhackers.

In Which Doug Reflects on Science and Writing

A couple months ago, between zoom classes and research, Doug Emlen found some time to share his thoughts on beetles and science. Turns out that he was born and raised in the Finger Lakes region of New York, and went to Cornell University. We chuckled about the fact that he is now “out west” and I, raised in the west, am now living a few miles away from his alma mater.

Smithsonian Archive

“My goal in writing Beetle Battles is to reach people and make science fun,” Doug said. He wrote to middle graders because he figured they might be interested in digging into the tough stuff. And confessed that he learned a lot in the process. (It’s definitely not the same as writing a text book!) Along the way, he discovered his writing voice.

“When someone suggested re-writing a section, I did it,” he said, noting that he had to invest time and energy into learning how to tell a narrative story. And sure, there’s a lot of science in this book – the topic is evolution of weapons – Doug wanted to make it an adventure.

“I had fun with this project,” Doug said, admitting that he rewrote the book a few times. But each time he found what worked better. What kept him going was the desire to make his story accessible to fourth through seventh-graders. “I feel it’s important that more of us [scientists] find a way to reach this age group.” He especially feels this urgency because of the level of science denial he sees in our society.

Writers are often told to “show, not tell,” but that “showing” turned out harder to do than Doug expected. There were so many questions along the way: should he give priority to the science or to the narrative. He chose the narrative, showing what it is like to be a scientist.

“I wanted to help kids understand the day-to-day life of a scientist in the rainforest, and how the rainforest smells.” While his journey as a scientist didn’t begin until he was in college, his curiosity was whetted when he was a kid traveling with his father, also a biologist. The cool thing about science, he says: “Basic research turns out to be important in ways you don’t expect.” Who would have expected research on dung beetles to reveal a deeper understanding of the arms race?

You can find out more about Doug and his dung beetle research here – in an interview he did with NPR’s Terry Gross a few years ago.

Find out more about Doug’s childhood here.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.