In this cleverly designed and consistently entertaining children's book for those above ten years of age, Nicola Davies presents the wonderfully diverse world of animal communication. Just as humans reach out to others with words, gestures, hands, signs, signals, and billboards, other two-, four-, or eight-legged creatures do the same in their own special ways. In order to find food and shelter, meet a mate, and the rear their young, animals must communicate. Some distinguish themselves by uniforms, others by stripes which spell danger, yet others use smell as a way of keeping intruders at bay.
Different species have songs that signal "I am gorgeous," and Davies devotes two pages to examples of them. For example: "Male hummingbirds do perfect dives and make a buzzing sound with their special tail feathers to look good to the girls." In sections on families, talking to mama, feeding babies, and living together, we gain even more appreciation for the communication skills of animals of all types and environments.
Davies doesn't forget the shadow side or the question which stands in the back of our minds: What do animals have to say to us?
