I found The Creatures’ Guide to Caring both surprising and deeply heartening. Elizabeth Preston takes what could have been a dry scientific study and turns it into a lively, engaging exploration of caregiving across species. I loved meeting poison frogs ferrying tadpoles on their backs, killer whale grandmothers hunting for their adult sons, and tropical birds incubating their friends’ eggs. The richness of those examples, from the extraordinary to the surprisingly familiar, made me rethink everything I thought I knew about human caregiving.

The writing shines with warmth, humor, and a self aware lightness, even when diving into serious science or, yes, the occasional unglamorous bodily detail. It reads like a conversation where you suddenly realize you're learning something profound with a laugh tucked into every page. That balance between affectionate curiosity and rigor kept me engaged even when the subject got heavy.

If I had one thought, it would be that a little more structure, like clearer thematic signposts, might help readers navigate the flow of the science, especially in denser chapters. But honestly, the stories and insight behind them carried me through.