Look at Me!: How to Attract Attention in the Animal World

Everybody likes attention, but in the animal kingdom it’s more than just gaining attention. It is often trying to scare away a predator or trying to find a mate that has animals doing extraordinary things to draw attention, and how they do it can be pretty amazing. Sometimes they puff themselves up, sometimes they display brilliant colors, sometimes it’s something else. Take the Sarcastic Fringehead. (Isn’t that a great name?) This water creature has a HUGE mouth with rows of sharp teeth that can do some damage if predators don’t back off. Did you know there is a poisonous bird? It’s called the Hooded Pitohui, and he keeps predators away with bright orange feathers, but if they don’t pay attention, there is always the poison.These are just a couple examples of the strange and amazing creatures author/illustrators Steve Jenkins and Robin Page have found to write about in this surprising, fun book. The illustrations are as brilliant as the well-written chunks of text that accompany each subject. The writing is fun and snappy, the research is clearly excellent, and the back-matter just adds to the overall quality of a book that will keep kids fascinated and learning.