Copy That, Copy Cat!: Inventions Inspired by Animals

by Katrina Tangen, Giulia Orecchia (Illustrator)

This rhyming, lift-the-flap picture book of riddles introduces children to biomimicry in a thoroughly fun format. From sonar to snowshoes, discover concrete examples of human inventions that copy things found in nature. The story invites readers to guess the answers to riddles based on rhymes and visual cues that peek through die-cuts. Page turns reveal surprise answers that show how inventions mimic biology, with additional information under flaps. Endnotes include lift-the-flap guessing games to reinforce learning.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Stem, Science, Nonfiction

32 pages, Board Book

Published September 5, 2023

About the author

Katrina Tangen lives in Southern California between Disneyland and the beach. At Harvard, she studied Folklore & Mythology, History of Science, Psychology, and Religion, so she knows a little bit about a lot of things. This turned out to be excellent training for writing nonfiction for kids! Katrina is disabled by ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis). She writes fiction and nonfiction for kids of all ages; Copy That, Copy Cat! is her debut.

Reviews

[Bonni Goldberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This picture book introduces the concept of biomimicry. It has all the bells and whistles that make it into an experience that is engaging and relevant either for children of multiple ages or for one child as they get older. Rhyme, gamification and flip page formatting are sure to get children interacting. For the younger set the main text, made up of a rhyming guessing game, compares things found in nature to human made inventions that mimic them. Illustrations play an important role here with visual cues and peek through die-cuts. After each comparison comes a flip page with a simple explanation of the physics, chemistry, or anatomy. The back matter is also made up of several Q&A flip pages. Fun and educational, this is a winner.

[Kelly Rice Schmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Lovely verse combines a fan-favorite—animals—with the inventions they inspired! It works wonderfully in this fantastic STEM lift the flap book. Each spreads flap reveals how the invention works and was copied from the animal. The back matter features an explanation of biomimicry and even more flaps to guess what inventions other animals inspired. Perfect to get little hands excited about big ideas— just my style. This book will get kids thinking creatively about nature and what they can take from their observations in the natural world to help them problem solve elsewhere. Highly recommend!

[Cindy Sommer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This rhyming, lift-the-flap picture book of riddles is amazing! It's so much fun figuring out the riddles and the cool inventions inspired by animals. The colors in this book really pop and make it come to life for the reader. I highly recommend this book to parents and teachers. Kids will not realize they are learning because of the engaging format with flaps and die-cuts! Fun for adults and kids.

[Charlotte Cheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know that sharks have inspired how hospitals stay clean? I sure didn't! This book uses rhyme to catch you by surprise with fun page turns and flap book reveals. Illustrates are bright and colorful while diagrams add tons of detail for kiddos who want to learn more about biomimicry. Highly recommend this book for kids and adults!

[Susi Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a clever book! It will keep young minds engaged and educate them about the parallels between human invention and the animal kingdom. Kids will have fun trying to think of additional inspirations from nature. The art is a gorgeous, vibrant collage style.

[Michelle Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an adorable rhyming adventure that showcases biological features of different animals and how they parallel modern day inventions. The illustrations by Giulia Orecchia are vibrant and full of fun and funky shapes, and also include interesting diagrams of how biology inspired technology. A great read for kids who are nature or science lovers!

[Amanda Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever and creative-keeps you guessing on each page. Tangen’s fun rhymes and inventive text give readers a sneak peek into how nature has inspired modern day inventions. Orecchia’s bright and vibrant collage illustrations bring movement and curiosity to each spread. Informational sidebars and back matter expertly weave in facts. Makes a fun read aloud and perfect addition to classrooms and libraries!

[Brooke - TheBrookeList · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional and highly interactive board book, where the flaps just keep on coming! This non-fiction text is engaging and interesting, bringing biomimicry to a new level of captivating and fun. And just when you think it's done, there are more pages full of more flaps than ever. Lots to draw in readers young and old.

Read as a nomination in the 2023 Fiction Picture Book book award category as a panelist for Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (Cybils Awards).

[Heather Kroeger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written and engaging. My son first loved guessing what completed the rhyme and now loves knowing the secret answer already. Beautiful, informative, and extremely well done! Fun for all ages!

[Olivia]

See my full review here: https://www.yabookscentral.com/copy-t...

COPY THAT, COPY CAT! is a clever lift-the-flap board book that discusses the way animals have inspired inventors. Using rhyming text and clever peek-through cut-outs and flaps, the book discusses unique features of certain animals and the ways that inventions have been inspired by them. For instance, the way that snow shoes were inspired by polar bear feet.

What I loved: This is a clever and fun way to teach about animals and about the way the things around us have been inspired by animals and their unique characteristics. The story is told in rhyme, which will work well for young readers. The story can be read at surface level but also contains paragraphs with a bit more description that will make this board book appeal to older readers as well. It ends up being quite educational. For instance, when it discusses how fish inspired submarines, it talks about how they use similar mechanisms to sink or float with some detail on the process.

Colorful illustrations also make this a fun book to look at, with plenty of detail and textured-looking styles that will keep the attention of young readers. The backmatter includes some additional animals with the things they inspired and asks readers to come up with their own ideas for how to solve a problem by watching animals.

Final verdict: Educational and fun to read, COPY THAT, COPY CAT! is an entertaining lift-the-flap board book that is sure to teach and inspire young readers to be inventive!

[Carol Doeringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun book this is, full of surprises as kids solve riddles, peek under flaps, and guess answers to intriguing questions. Each example of biomimicry begins with a rhyme that seems to describe only a familiar animal like a bird, a frog, a bat, or a cat. But on lifting a flap, the reader learns that some trait of that animal—like the ‘eerie flash’ of a cat’s eyes in the dark—also belongs to a human invention that mimics that trait, such as a bike reflector. Kids will quickly understand each page’s guessing game. They’ll look carefully at a clue peeking through a hole in each flap. They will imagine what useful object could have been inspired by a polar bear’s huge paws (the snowshoe), a frog’s webbed feet (swim flippers), and more. Extensive back matter explains biomimicry along with more lift-the-flap questions and answers that provide additional examples and details about animal-inspired inventions. The illustrations are rich in every sense, filled with vibrant colors and eye-catching details. I read an advance, digital copy. But when it’s available, I’ll be gifting several copies of this imaginative book to the littles in my life. Highly recommend!

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent young science book, one that wants to teach you something about the natural world but still recognises the appeal of lift-the-flap surprises. We get a rhyming section of a double-page spread, but just when we think the final rhyme and beat of the quatrain is going to be an animal – a bird, a frog, a bat – we actually find it's something we've created, whose properties the animal we expected to see have been matched by our invention. So both the bird and our planes have the same aerodynamics in the wing, both the frog and our flipper-using snorkeller have webbed feet, we know sonar as well as a bat knows echolocation, and so on. There aren't that many examples here, but by the time we have also faced the end-matter, which for once is further information and questions and not something for an entirely different age group altogether, we have had a valuable and engaging lesson. I wasn't in love with the artwork much, but for the appeal and enjoyable approach to a fairly interesting subject, this gets four stars.

[Cheryl Keely · Rating 5 out of 5]

In author Katrina Tangen’s debut picture book COPY THAT, COPY CAT: INVENTIONS INSPIRED BY ANIMALS, nature and science come together in this action-packed interactive STEM book. Told in rhymes and riddles, this lift-the-flap book introduces children to biomimicry by showing them how humans copied animals for many of their inventions -- from planes, flippers, and snowshoes to helmets, bike reflectors, and robot arms. Little fingers will be lifting the flaps over and over again as they answer the questions of what animal inspired what invention. Illustrator Giulia Orecchia’s art collages reinforce the beauty of puzzles and finding answers in nature. Endnotes include more lift-the-flap guessing games to reinforce learning. Out September 5th by Barefoot Books. For Children 4-8 years. A little me would have LOVED this book.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

With its clever title and six large sturdy flaps to lift as well as peek-through holes, this board book acknowledges the wonders of nature in an interesting way. By focusing on biomimicry, the text introduces youngsters to some of the inventions inspired by nature. Since new technology based on the natural world is similar to the originals, readers may find it quite interesting to note how both the innovation and its inspiration work. There are riddles to solve, and the back matter even includes six small flaps that can be lifted to see what elephants, fireflies, kingfishers, geckos, sharks, and hedgehogs inspired. Youngsters are even encouraged to think of a problem that could be solved by copying some aspect of an animal. This one would be a great addition to a science classroom library.

[Nora Nickum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so creative and clever and fun! I love how the rhymes lead the reader to guess the animal, but then the next page surprises you with the related human invention and compares the two. The explanations under the flaps are concise and clear. The art is vibrant and playful.
And the back matter is stellar and engaging - I love how it also has flaps and interactive questions for kids. Kids sometimes skip the back matter in books, but I doubt that will happen here!
Highly recommend this book for reading and gifting.

[Abi Cushman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so much fun! Through a guessing game format, the reader is introduced to examples of biomimicry (looking at how nature solved a problem in order to make an invention). Fun rhymes and a die-cut hole peeking at the next page lead you to guess a certain animal, but surprise! The answer is actually the manmade invention. Readers can then lift a flap to see more information on how the animal's feature and the manmade invention are similar and how they work. Kids will learn a ton and will be actively engaged throughout this clever, interactive book. Five stars.

[Kris Tarantino · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of animals, and the human inventions they inspired, is packed with playful fun and awesome facts! Full of bouncy rhyme and surprise reveals behind each flap and page turn, kids are sure to delight in learning how scientists use nature to inspire all sorts of cool new inventions. Sometimes being a copycat is a good thing! Vibrant engaging illustrations accompany spare text and fascinating examples of biomimicry— “bio” meaning life and “mimic” meaning copy. Highly recommend this book for any child’s bookshelf and every elementary teacher’s classroom.

[Aixa Perez-Prado · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It is so clever and tricky and teaches kids about biomimicry in a way that is fun and refreshing without feeling like a lesson at all. The rhyme is spot on and kids will jump to the same conclusions as the protagonist because of the rhyme and then be surprised and delighted by the alternative answer to the rhyming riddles. The book's illustrations are super colorful and joyful, further enhancing the playfulness of the prose and full of wonderful details. This is a must have book for classrooms and homes of budding scientists that love to laugh. I highly recommend this title!

[Lynnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a really good book. There is a lot going on in this book. I could see even a kindergartener or first grader enjoying this book because there's some really cool information about animals and how the world works, but my toddler also loves it because there are flaps and animals and a rhyming system. I appreciate that they called the baby in the ultrasound a baby, I do not appreciate that they mentioned it was the ultrasound of a pregnant person. But that's not reason enough to stop reading this book it's just annoying.

[Christine Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

COPY THAT, COPY CAT! has a lot going on, so there's something for everyone. Readers guess about inventions that were inspired by animals as they look at each animal's traits and guess what connection will be revealed on the next page. This is a multi-level text, so you can read it aloud to emerging readers. Readers ready for the next level will get lots out of the sidebars to go deeper into the science behind the animals and inventions. The pictures are bright, wild, and fun, too!

[Megan Clendenan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a clever and joyful book that will engage and entertain readers with some fun surprises! A super fun and interactive introduction to the fascinating topic of biomimicry, learning from nature to design inventions. With bright and cheerful illustrations and kid-appealing rhyming text, the book highlights amazing animals and what inventors have learned through a series of riddles that give readers a chance to guess before they turn the page, where the answer might surprise them.

[Nadia Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book. Copy That, Copy Cat! is a clever, rhyming, beautifully illustrated book that teaches readers about the animal world and the technology and tools they inspired. It has flaps to teach more about how things work, and it has many different examples that engage and teach children about things in the world around them. The illustrations are vibrant and help bring the amazing information come to life! Definitely recommend!

[Leslie Barnard Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This interactive lift-the-flap book about biomimicry is so much fun! With rhyming riddles and beautiful, vivid art, this is a book children will come back to again and again. The fascinating topic of biomimicry is explained in a clear and captivating way, inviting children to guess what invention hides under the flap. This is a book that is also a game, and it is a must-read for any child interested in inventing, engineering, or creating! Highly recommend for classroom and home.

[K. Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Copy That, Copy Cat! is such a fun, informative, entertaining book! It has everything – rhymes, riddles, flaps, animals, and science! I love love loved it from start to finish – actually I didn’t want it to end. It’s has easy to understand explanations about hard concepts. The illustrations are colorful and lively and draw the reader right in. I think any will child will love this book! Go out and get it now!

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how this book uses rhyming riddles where the answer isn’t what the reader expects. Kids love surprises! The lift-the-flaps format allows for really fun reveals. The text is written in a kid-friendly, fun, and concise way, while conveying fascinating STEM information. The art is wonderful and the interactive back matter is really intriguing, too. Highly recommend and will be gifting this to curious kids in my life!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

An informative board book for little ones about biomimicry. Using rhymes, die-cuts, and lift-the-flaps, readers learn how animals have inspired inventions. The book focuses on six animals and the inventions they inspired, bird/plane, frog/flipper, bat/sonar, polar bear/snowshoe, fish/submarine, cat/bike reflection plus briefly six more at the back with additional information. An attractive and well-designed board book to include in units about biomimicry and inventions.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed most of this! You could go through this with just the rhyming text plus the big text under the flaps for a little one, and as the kids get older they could go through the diagrams/more of the detailed text under the flaps. The bonus flaps at the end are also fun, and I think some of them would have been more interesting/surprising to have in the main text.

The book leads off, though, with the common but incorrect explanation of why airfoils are good.

[Shannon Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Copy That, Copy Cat! is amazing! Such a clever book, featuring biomimicry for some of our best inventions. Readers can learn all about how many of our world's problems were solved simply by looking at how animals survive and thrive. Who knew animals have so many things figured out? This book lends itself to many STEM extensions as kids can reflect on other features of animals to determine if these things could serve humans as much as they help the animals who have them.

[Brenna Jeanneret · Rating 5 out of 5]

The bouncy rhyme and vibrant pictures make this an engaging read for any age BUT the connection between animal and invention takes this book to another level! Complete with leading rhyme and die cuts that reveal secret clues kids are going to ask for this book again and again!! Don't miss out, order your copy today!

[Michelle Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This board board ticks off all the boxes—it's fun to read, full of interesting facts and a real page turner! The rhyme adds suspense at every page turn. This book is sure to be a favorite with kids and teachers will love reading it in the classroom. The illustrations are bright and colorful and the flap ups create a treasure to unlock with every lift!