Secret Language of Animals: A Guide to Remarkable Behavior Paperback – April 15, 2014

seller shipped immediately and packed my book with consideration and care. as described, the book is like new - just about perfect! delighted with this order - thank you! you'll be receiving orders for me again.

informative read, came quickly as described.

Great book! Highly recommend. Readable, yet academic.

A little more advanced than I expected for a young teenager, but an excellent book

This was listed as a children's book and since my daughters love apes and monkeys I decided to try it. I was disappointed to see that it is laid out in more of a textbook style, instead of kid friendly reading material. Each idea is discussed in great depth and loses children. I was bored with it, as well. Although the information is fascinating the way in which it was written is long winded and tedious. It was reminiscent of a lecture by your most boring professor, the one who talked in a monotone and almost always induced a snooze fest.

great gift for an animal-lover

Thanks!

The Secret Language of Animals: A Guide to Remarkable Behavior is a well-written guide for observing popular zoo animals. The book is about an inch thick and almost 500 pages long, but it isn’t too heavy due to the paper stock used. The paper itself is a creamy white so it isn’t hard on the eyes to read (for example, in the sun at a zoo). It is definitely a solid bargain for under 20 dollars.This book is really two books in one. The first one hundred pages or so provide a well-written overview of zoos and exploration of behaviors, across a wide variety of animals, broken down into a variety of categories. The information in this section is interesting and clearly written by an educator; additionally, what is striking is the clarity, conciseness, organization, and easy-to-read composition. This section, like others in the book, has a smattering of easy-to-read tables and lovely black and white sketches/drawings of the animals in consideration. Overall the book is a pleasure to read!!After the introductions, 20 animals are covered by geographic region. The first batch of animals hail from Africa, the next batches covered are from Asia, Warm Oceans, North America and finally the Polar Regions. The animals chosen are largely the charismatic, large animals most popular at larger zoos. So the animal selection is most appropriate for a practical guide. The animals covered include:GorillaLionAfrican ElephantPlains ZebraBlack RhinoGiraffeOstrichGreater FlamingoNile CrocodileGiant Panda BearPeacockKomodo Monitor LizardBottlenose DolphinCalifornia Sea LionGray WolfBald EagleSandhill CraneBeluga WhalePolar BearAdele PenguinFor each animal, the section opens with a nice illustration and vital statistics including scientific classifications, habitat with a map, size, weight and age ranges. With the fundamentals out of the way, each section then moves on to cover the animal in question’s movement, feeding, playing, using the bathroom, grooming, sleeping and both social and sexual behaviors, etc. Yes, that last bit is correct! Sexual behavior is one major type of animal behavior and this book is very plain in covering the animals’ sexual behavior. Some animals have more behaviors than others and those are covered as well.One of the fundamental parts of the book are the “choice diagrams” that an observer can follow to determine a behavior in question. For example in the elephant section, there are choices for ears spread and/or flapping, then ears back, then ears high an folded. Under each of these choices are additional selections for what the trunk is doing. By following this guide an observer can determine if an elephant is greeting another, threatening, mild or serious charging, etc.Another 1-2 pages in each section is devoted to discussing how humans have historically interacted with (and continue to interact) with each animal, mostly in their native environment. These short bits help keep the sections light, varied and interesting.The book concludes with advice on how to tell a good zoo from a bad one and what an individual can do to make a difference.This great book is definitely far above the level of a traditional zoo shop souvenir book. I think it would be best absorbed by readers 10 and older, but younger kids would certainly like the pictures. I can definitely recommend reading this book prior to visiting a zoo. Additionally it should be taken to the zoo and used as an interactive guide for getting the most out of a visit.