Animals That Make Me Say Ewww! (National Wildlife Federation)

This is a great book that simultaneously amused and fascinated me. Filled with simple language, and perfectly chosen pictures, it gives children (and adults) insight into some of the more ewww-worthy animal behaviors, such as the reason behind nose-picking and feces-eating. There were several times when I was quite surprised because I had no idea that there were legitimate reasons for some of the behaviors (like the feces-flinging).

This is a perfect book for ages 8+ to read by themselves, but also easily one that parents would enjoy reading with them or younger children. The back of the book lists several 'scavenger hunts' which encourage the reader to utilize the internet and find out more information about various animal behaviors or adaptations on their own.

A fantastic read from Dawn Cusick and National Wildlife Federation that I would definitely recommend for any child who is curious about biology, or just at the stage where they think bodily functions are hilarious. It'll let them laugh and educate them at the same time. Great work.

Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, because this is one nonfiction title that truly lives up to its name. We’ve got lots of snot, feces galore, blood, guts and plenty of gunk – everything you could want in a gross-out information book for middle-grade readers!

This is definitely an image-heavy book, with stunning wildlife photography balancing the visually-appealing text bubbles to create a nonfiction text that is engaging, rather than overwhelming. The grossness is largely limited to the text, with the photographs tending towards generic images of each animal (thank goodness – I don’t think my stomach could have handled vivid photographic evidence of some of the more disgusting behaviours).

Animals That Make Me Say Ewww! doesn’t talk down to its audience, using appropriate language like “defecate” and “feces”, and providing scientific explanations for this behaviour. While humorous and engaging, this is definitely still a nonfiction book, and children will likely come away from it having actually learned something, amidst the inevitable giggles and gasps.

The author provides a helpful glossary and detailed index to aid with research, and includes a fun “scavenger hunt” extension activity. Part of a series of engaging nonfiction texts for budding biologists, Animals That Make Me Say Ewww! is a comprehensive, yet light-hearted look at the many wonders of our natural world. Highly recommended.

This is a great book to teach about animals, especially some of their gross behaviours. Boys will love this book. What 9 year old boy does not love to read about eating boogers or feces. Finding out what animals regurgitate and why will catch their attention. The photographs are excellent. They have many closeups of animals that you would not normally be able to see. This book would be a hit in school, classroom and public libraries. Getting those reluctant readers to read this book would be easy.

This was a cute way to get children interested in learning about nature. I recommend it on that basis although I had an issue or two with it. One issue was a question of wording. On page 13 I read, "help them smell better" and I felt, in order to be clear, it should have read, "help them to detect smells better", or something to that effect! A minor point but worth attention. Other than that it was written well, but personally, I would have liked it better if it had said a word or two about endangered species given that it featured one or two, such as the gorilla. The attraction for kids is based on the gross-out factor, obviously, but since I knew this going in, I had no problem with it. There are other books in a series based on other perspectives, to round-out the picture, such as Get the Scoop on Animal Poop, Bug Butts, Animal Tongues, Animal Eggs: An Amazing Clutch of Mysteries and Marvels, Get the Scoop on Animal Puke!, and Animals That Make Me Say Wow!, none of which I've read.

The novel covers a variety of animals, but is focused strongly on mammals, and often the larger or better known ones at that. This is a bit class-ist, but it's not all mammals, by any means. There is the occasional insect or two, a fish here and there, a spider (my favorite spider, too!), and an amphibian or two, and quite a few birds, so there is variety, and for me, if you can get kids through that potentially difficult door of initial interest with the cuddly ones, that goes a long way to keeping them interested and helping to wise them up to other less adorable animals, and to what we're doing to the world, and how much we have to lose if we don't all wise up! Hopefully they will realize that not all animals are furry and relatively closely related to us. There's a huge variety out there, and maybe they will realize they can find 'eww' locally, too, if they're willing to keep their eyes open and away from their video games for a while! They don't need to travel to exotic locations.

My biggest problem was with technical issues. This is an advance review copy, so hopefully these will be worked out before the final copy is published, but just FYI, there were, for me, two main problems. The first was that many words were missing the letter 'r'. I have no idea what that was all about because it wasn't every 'r' which was missing - just some! For example, on p12 'bird beak' was missing an 'r' - it has a space instead. The same thing happens on p22. The same with kangaroo on p27, with flower on p35, with bird and fur on p39, with strong on p47, sources p51, 'Fly swatted and directions' on p55, 'upward and figure' on p58, 'are' on p59, 'Fight-or-flight and response' on p62. Also one 'f' in buffalo is missing on p77. Just the one!

This problem was apparent my iPad both in the Bluefire reader version, and in the kindle app version (I wouldn't recommend trying to read this book on a smart phone!). The Kindle app also screwed-up the placement of the pictures. Many of the pictures are evidently seated on a blue-green colored background, but in the Kindle app they were missing this completely and were all over the place and appeared in a variety of sizes! Bluefire Reader did not have this problem. Also some of the larger text was a bit blurry on the Kindle app (but not in Bluefire). Again, this may have been because this was an ARC or it may be because Amazon produced a crappy Kindle app.

Those problems had nothing to do with the idea or the writing, so I'm not worried about them! I consider this a worthy read and I recommend it.

Will be posted March 4 Animals that Make Me say Ewww! Is an interesting look at some of your favorite (and not so favorite) animals. But this book tells you all about their gross habits - like picking their nose and eating it and talks a LOT about poo. Definitely really informative if you try to look beyond the Eww! factor, but I think a lot of kids will love reading about poo and won't realize they are actually learning too!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.

Bright photos from the National Wildlife Federation accompany interesting and gross information about how animals clean themselves and deal with their wastes and other rather gross things. I did not know that bees basically vomit nectar into the cells in the hive to make honey. The book includes a glossary and an index and I think that elementary school children will enjoy reading it. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

Fascinating accounts of disgusting things animals do complete with explanations. A sure hit with kids of ALL ages.

Animals That Make Me Say Ewww! by Dawn Cusick is children's nonfiction book currently scheduled for release on March 1 2016. This book details some of the less appealing aspects of the animal world. From blood-squirting reptiles to blood-sweating mammals to nose-picking primates, learn about some of the most disgusting creatures in the animal kingdom. Animals have developed some weird, wacky, and just plain gross habits and skills that help them survive.

Animals That Make Me Say Ewww! has a host of interesting facts about the bizarre habits and skills that animals have developed to help them survive. some are disgusting defenses to protect them from predators, others are symbiotic relationships or grooming habits that help keep them comfortable and healthy, and some are to help them find and devour their own prey. Some of the facts I already knew, like the teamwork between certain birds or fish and much larger animals that might otherwise consider them food or pests, but I did learn some new things as well. I liked the detail about the whys of the gross facts, rather than just the information about what each animal does and why it is gross. This would be a great book for readers that love learning about animals, and those looking for some information on the icky side.

Animals That Make Me Say Ewww! is a wonderful resource and I think it will be appreciated by animal and ick lovers alike. A great addition to home, school, and library collections.

Cute and funny.

This book is definitely going to get read. Nothing gets a kid interested in a book like gross stuff. This is so much information in this book. I am really excited about this book.