Slap, Squeak and Scatter: How Animals Communicate

By Steve Jenkins

Book Overview

A beaver slaps its tail on the water to warn other beavers of approaching danger. A mother bat returning to the cave can locate her baby among two or three million other bats by using a special cry. And the male hippopotamus marks his territory by spinning his tail and scattering his dung. These are just a few of the unusual ways animals communicate with one another. This beautifully illustrated work by noted author and illustrator Steve Jenkins describes many more fascinating and curious ways of animal communication.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618033769
• ISBN13: 9780618033768
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.5" x 9.8"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

These Animals Have a Lot to Say

Steve Jenkins' creatively opens the door to animal communication in this delightful book for younger readers. He captures children's imaginations with both his art and his imagination. Readers familiar with Steve Jenkins have come to expect incredible paper collages that are so realistic you expect to feel feathers, fur, and reptilian skin. We also expect fascinating glimpses into the subject, in this case how 23 distinctly different animals communicate and suggestions into their messages. Did you know that beavers thump out warnings with their tales and that these warnings can be heard as far as a half mile? Mother bats returning from a night of hunting insects have unique sounds that prove useful for locating their babies in the huge bat nursery. Animals warn of dangers but they also inform about sources of food or keeping close tabs on their children. Some of the animals fit on one page while some, the humpback whale, stretch across two pages. I found the book delightful and appropriate for children 4 to 7 years old. All readers, young and old, will have to touch, and many will have to try and create some of their own communications. Some will have to perform their own waggle dance.