Tooling Around: Crafty Creatures and the Tools They Use [Paperback]

Humans aren't the only ones that use tools!

Simple, rhyming text introduces eleven animals around the world and the surprising tools they use, including an octopus that hides in a coconut, a dolphin that protects its nose with a sponge, and a deer that bedecks its antlers with heaping piles of mud and grass. Secondary text offers further information about these crafty creatures. Back matter includes an author note on tools and the science of animal behavior, information on the habitats of each species, and further reading for kids and adults. Perfect for budding zoologists.Upbeat, if somewhat corny, rhymes help introduce ways in which 11 wild animals utilize tools. Subjects include a crow that bends a piece of wire to reach an object, otters that use rocks to smash open shellfish, and dolphins that use sea sponges to catch fish: Dolphins choose a cone-shaped sponge,/ wrap their beaks, then fish and lunge. Longer prose passages elaborate on each animal's activity: Elephants strip leaves from branches, writes Jackson. They use the stripped branches to swat flies or other insects that bite them. Benoit's mixed-media illustrations fall between naturalistic and cozy, creating an accessible entry point to learning about animal behavior. An author's note provides additional background on animals' tool use and the habitats of the featured animals.
-Publishers Weekly

Woodpecker finches, chimpanzees, otters, deer, and octopuses are just some of the animals whose use of tools is explored in this attractive, informational picture book. Rhyming couplets paired with explanatory paragraphs in succinct, descriptive prose explain how various species use objects to accomplish specific goals. A helpful introduction explains what a tool is, defining it fairly broadly ( Many scientists who study animal tool use define a tool as an object that an animal uses to accomplish a goal ): the book uses some clear examples (a chimp using sticks anlc