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Why Pandas Do Handstands: And Other Curious Truths About Animals
Did you know that... • shark embryos can attack? • caterpillars can tap dance? • koalas have fingerprints almost identical to those of humans? And, who would have guessed that... • chimpanzees talk about food? • male animals from hot climates make bad fathers? • owls employ snakes as babysitters? • rats can learn the differences between languages? • some parasites castrate their victims? • dogs can see moving objects up to 985 yards away? • ants won't cross a chalk line? • a sloth moves so slowly that fungus grows on its feet? Astonishing new facts about animals are discovered every day. Here, gathered together in one book, are hundreds of the most fascinating, often funny, and, occasionally, just plain bizarre snippets known about animals freshly gleaned from the most up-to-date scientific observations and experiments. With chapters on every aspect of animal life -- from how they communicate with one another to their highly unusual parenting practices to their lively and varied sex lives -- Augustus Brown has compiled a charming, educational, and supremely entertaining book that will satisfy even the most obsessive animal lover. So, dig in to this irresistibly entertaining and utterly engrossing inside look at the animal kingdom at its most peculiar!
302 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
5 people are currently reading
151 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
July 19, 2016
This book contains a bunch of fun and fascinating facts about the animals. Some facts are but a sentence or two, while others are half a page. It's a joy to read-so long as you love trivia!
September 9, 2019
Good book. I like the fact that this book can be read over and over again and you can learn something new that you didn't read the previous time.
October 14, 2022
Throughout the book that is entitled: “Why Pandas Do Handstands and Other Curious Truths About Animals” by Augustus Brown, the reader encounters multiple fascinating, disgusting, attention catching, mind appealing, and all around funny facts about mammals, birds, fish, and even reptiles. The book is fertile with hundreds upon hundreds of facts that some people may find inappropriate or interesting. Some interesting facts found in the illustration consist of animals that are rare and have little research on them. Here are some interesting animals and facts about them that the reader encounters throughout the book. Kangaroos can dig holes up to four feet deep in order to access water. Chimpanzees are known for their intellectualistic minds as they are capable of performing dentistry on themselves. Parakeets usually live in homes together with each other and they look like apartments. Bats form teepee-like homes. Octopi are known for having brains inside of their legs.There are so many different animals and creatures found in this book that it would be hard not to find a specific animal. This book is straight facts about animals and can easily be used for research projects and for scientific purposes.
In my opinion, the book entitled: “Why Pandas Do Handstands and Other Curious Truths About Animals”, is a good book that can easily be used for research projects on animals and animal diversity. If I had to read this book for fun, I would definitely love to use it as a way to waste some time. My only issue with this book is how it sexualizes animals and it is a very disgusting read at times. Other than that, the book is a very interesting and mind grasping book to read. In my opinion, the author, Augustus Brown, did a very good job with filling the book with fascinating information and keeping the reader interested and grabbing their attention instead of filling it with boring and useless information. The only downside to this book, in my opinion, is the sexualization of animals and disgusting information. Other than that, the author wrote a very good book. I would not recommend this book to anyone other than people doing research projects on animals. Young children would especially not receive a recommendation because the contents of this book are intended for mature readers and grown adults. I would also recommend this book to researchers or scientists who are researching a specific animal and want to get a little more information on the animal they are researching. I would recommend for teachers and school staff to keep this book away from classrooms in elementary and middle schools because of the gruesome information. One main value to be gained from this novel would certainly be quality information intended for research purposes rather than a book to read gradually over time and to be tested on because there is a lot of information to be contained if you were to do a test on it. If I rated this book I would give it a 7/10. I enjoyed the book, but the contents of the book are fairly inappropriate for younger audiences.
1. Should animals be able to adopt different ways of communication from other species in the same environment?
2. Do all animals and other living things have the same ways of raising their young and do they give birth to them the same?
3. Are there different ways that animals adapt to their environment socially?
In my opinion, the book entitled: “Why Pandas Do Handstands and Other Curious Truths About Animals”, is a good book that can easily be used for research projects on animals and animal diversity. If I had to read this book for fun, I would definitely love to use it as a way to waste some time. My only issue with this book is how it sexualizes animals and it is a very disgusting read at times. Other than that, the book is a very interesting and mind grasping book to read. In my opinion, the author, Augustus Brown, did a very good job with filling the book with fascinating information and keeping the reader interested and grabbing their attention instead of filling it with boring and useless information. The only downside to this book, in my opinion, is the sexualization of animals and disgusting information. Other than that, the author wrote a very good book. I would not recommend this book to anyone other than people doing research projects on animals. Young children would especially not receive a recommendation because the contents of this book are intended for mature readers and grown adults. I would also recommend this book to researchers or scientists who are researching a specific animal and want to get a little more information on the animal they are researching. I would recommend for teachers and school staff to keep this book away from classrooms in elementary and middle schools because of the gruesome information. One main value to be gained from this novel would certainly be quality information intended for research purposes rather than a book to read gradually over time and to be tested on because there is a lot of information to be contained if you were to do a test on it. If I rated this book I would give it a 7/10. I enjoyed the book, but the contents of the book are fairly inappropriate for younger audiences.
1. Should animals be able to adopt different ways of communication from other species in the same environment?
2. Do all animals and other living things have the same ways of raising their young and do they give birth to them the same?
3. Are there different ways that animals adapt to their environment socially?
April 23, 2022
Як писати відгуки коли від книги суцільне захоплення?
Це джерело знань. Після прочитання ви більше не зможете говорити "ах ці дурні тварини, нічого вони не розуміють". Вони нас слухають, люблять, відчувають цілий спектр емоцій. У них є розлучення, сварки та бійки. Вони не гірші – вони інші.
⠀
У книзі стільки нюансів життя та різноманітність видів, що всіх не пригадати. Але вони такі чудові. Людські пристрасті у жодне порівняння. Там буває й дужче.
⠀
Рекомендую тим, хто хоче бути ближчим до тварин або подивитися на них під іншим кутом.
Це джерело знань. Після прочитання ви більше не зможете говорити "ах ці дурні тварини, нічого вони не розуміють". Вони нас слухають, люблять, відчувають цілий спектр емоцій. У них є розлучення, сварки та бійки. Вони не гірші – вони інші.
⠀
У книзі стільки нюансів життя та різноманітність видів, що всіх не пригадати. Але вони такі чудові. Людські пристрасті у жодне порівняння. Там буває й дужче.
⠀
Рекомендую тим, хто хоче бути ближчим до тварин або подивитися на них під іншим кутом.
April 16, 2018
This book was illuminating and hilarious! Chock full of interesting facts about animals across a wide range of categories from interesting animal senses and other odd stuff.
The author writes in a clear and concise way and the illustrations are amusing too!
If you're interested in odd facts this is a fun read. :O)
The author writes in a clear and concise way and the illustrations are amusing too!
If you're interested in odd facts this is a fun read. :O)
January 10, 2022
It was an ok- good read. I am a sucker for encyclopediac knowledge but this book did bore me a few times (which mind you, has NEVER happened to me, not when I read whole encyclopedias or even news articles) so it was a little disappointing. High expectations, missed by a little results.
November 17, 2024
This is truly a fun book. The book is a series of factoids/snippets with each chapter on a theme. This is a great book for any nature lover, and a fun way to learn about the many wonderous creatures with whom we share the planet.
December 5, 2017
the most interesting the in this book was how bad most animal parents are.
September 3, 2023
Very interesting animal facts
December 31, 2024
Thanks for carrying my childhood and for being the reason I want a BSc now
March 22, 2017
Some of these facts had me laughing and others disgusted me but all were fascinating!
January 2, 2012
l'autore è un non meglio precisato amante degli animali, attualmente vive a londra ma da piccolo ha vissuto in fattoria ed è sempre stato affascinato dagli animali e dalle loro stranezze. o almeno così racconta il libro, per quanto mi riguarda ho cercato notizie su di lui ma non ho trovato molto, è il suo primo e unico libro a quanto pare ed è stata una piacevola quanto variegata lettura.
come ben sapete sto attraversando un periodo di curiosità su animali e affini, e questo libro era fra gli altri sullo scaffale della biblioteca, non ho resisitito e l'ho preso. è incredibile come libri sullo stesso argomento possano essere tanto diversi fra di loro. questo libro è una semplice (e dico semplice anche se è limitativo) raccolta di curiosità sugli animali, senza nient'altro di personale come un commento, una storia o cose simili, solo un elenco di trafiletti di curiosità, ordinati per argomento, trattati, questo però è giusto dirlo, con la giusta ironia. nulla di difficile per i non addetti ai lavori, alcuni fatti sono addirittura "semplificati" per renderne facile la comprensione. ad ogni modo tutte le notizie sono state verificate e sono state escluse le "storie metropolitane" che circolano sugli animali e le loro abitudini (e sono parecchie).
il risultato è senza dubbio apprezzabile sebbene non mi abbia entusiasmata: se non si visualizza un elemento nel suo ambiente, difficilmente la nozione rimarrà impressa in mente. per farla breve ho letto quasi 300 pagine di curiosità sugli animali ma me ne ricordo, purtroppo, pochissime. erano così slegate fra loro che onestamente tranne le più curiose o eclatanti le altre sono passate in secondo piano. gli argomenti trattati soo davvero vastissimi, il libro è diviso in 11 sezioni: la comunicazione, l'alimentazione, l'amore, crescere i cuccioli, la sopravvivenza, lo stile di vita, la convivenza fra animali della stessa specie, l'intelligenza animale, animali spostamenti, evoluzione degli animali. c'è di che divertirsi, gli anneddoti sono divertenti, interessanti, curiosi.
ho scoperto, ad esempio che:
- ci sono animali che non possono vomitare come i ratti, il coniglio, il topo comune e la quaglia.
- l'aragosta femmina per accoppiarsi deve togliersi la corazza. fra l'altro l'aragosta maschio dominante ogni giorno picchia tute le altre aragoste, in modo da mantenere il suo ruolo, anche se in realtà non ne hanno minacciato la posizione.
- i delfini praticano stupri di gruppo: si riuniscono in bande di delfini della stessa età e rapiscono una femmina, approfittando di lei, a turno, per poi lasciarla libera e cambiare zona di mare per evitare l'ira dei delfini del suo gruppo.
- le giraffe usano la loro lingua per pulirsi le orecchie.
- i colibrì sono gli unici volatili a volare anche al contrario.
- i gatti non vedono i bocconcini che hanno "sotto al naso" proprio perchè è un punto cieco della loro vista.
- i koala hanno le impronte digitali simili a quelle umane, questo è un problema in australia quando si deve risalire al colpevole con le impronte digitali, se il crimine è stato commesso in un'area frequentata da questi animali.
oltre alle curiosità è presente anche qualche classifica come gli animali più veloci, più lenti, più longevi e così via. se non fosse così "difficile" memorizzare questi dati una volta letto il libro sicuramente potremmo essere campioni in quei giochi di società con le domande più assurde sul regno animale!
è un libro che nonostante tutto consiglio. una lettura piacevole, magari da affrontare come lettura "secondaria" o da lasciare a disposizione della famiglia per qualche minuto di svago, da soli o in gruppo. le sezioni sono suddvise in mini capitoli di poche pagine, un'idea potrebbe essere leggerne un capitolo alla volta, magari prima di dormire. è un ottimo modo per evitare i cattivi pensieri prima di dormire pensando invece a quanto è strano il mondo animale. vi auguro una buona lettura!
come ben sapete sto attraversando un periodo di curiosità su animali e affini, e questo libro era fra gli altri sullo scaffale della biblioteca, non ho resisitito e l'ho preso. è incredibile come libri sullo stesso argomento possano essere tanto diversi fra di loro. questo libro è una semplice (e dico semplice anche se è limitativo) raccolta di curiosità sugli animali, senza nient'altro di personale come un commento, una storia o cose simili, solo un elenco di trafiletti di curiosità, ordinati per argomento, trattati, questo però è giusto dirlo, con la giusta ironia. nulla di difficile per i non addetti ai lavori, alcuni fatti sono addirittura "semplificati" per renderne facile la comprensione. ad ogni modo tutte le notizie sono state verificate e sono state escluse le "storie metropolitane" che circolano sugli animali e le loro abitudini (e sono parecchie).
il risultato è senza dubbio apprezzabile sebbene non mi abbia entusiasmata: se non si visualizza un elemento nel suo ambiente, difficilmente la nozione rimarrà impressa in mente. per farla breve ho letto quasi 300 pagine di curiosità sugli animali ma me ne ricordo, purtroppo, pochissime. erano così slegate fra loro che onestamente tranne le più curiose o eclatanti le altre sono passate in secondo piano. gli argomenti trattati soo davvero vastissimi, il libro è diviso in 11 sezioni: la comunicazione, l'alimentazione, l'amore, crescere i cuccioli, la sopravvivenza, lo stile di vita, la convivenza fra animali della stessa specie, l'intelligenza animale, animali spostamenti, evoluzione degli animali. c'è di che divertirsi, gli anneddoti sono divertenti, interessanti, curiosi.
ho scoperto, ad esempio che:
- ci sono animali che non possono vomitare come i ratti, il coniglio, il topo comune e la quaglia.
- l'aragosta femmina per accoppiarsi deve togliersi la corazza. fra l'altro l'aragosta maschio dominante ogni giorno picchia tute le altre aragoste, in modo da mantenere il suo ruolo, anche se in realtà non ne hanno minacciato la posizione.
- i delfini praticano stupri di gruppo: si riuniscono in bande di delfini della stessa età e rapiscono una femmina, approfittando di lei, a turno, per poi lasciarla libera e cambiare zona di mare per evitare l'ira dei delfini del suo gruppo.
- le giraffe usano la loro lingua per pulirsi le orecchie.
- i colibrì sono gli unici volatili a volare anche al contrario.
- i gatti non vedono i bocconcini che hanno "sotto al naso" proprio perchè è un punto cieco della loro vista.
- i koala hanno le impronte digitali simili a quelle umane, questo è un problema in australia quando si deve risalire al colpevole con le impronte digitali, se il crimine è stato commesso in un'area frequentata da questi animali.
oltre alle curiosità è presente anche qualche classifica come gli animali più veloci, più lenti, più longevi e così via. se non fosse così "difficile" memorizzare questi dati una volta letto il libro sicuramente potremmo essere campioni in quei giochi di società con le domande più assurde sul regno animale!
è un libro che nonostante tutto consiglio. una lettura piacevole, magari da affrontare come lettura "secondaria" o da lasciare a disposizione della famiglia per qualche minuto di svago, da soli o in gruppo. le sezioni sono suddvise in mini capitoli di poche pagine, un'idea potrebbe essere leggerne un capitolo alla volta, magari prima di dormire. è un ottimo modo per evitare i cattivi pensieri prima di dormire pensando invece a quanto è strano il mondo animale. vi auguro una buona lettura!
July 24, 2020
It was a cute little book with lots of animal facts!
February 22, 2014
Recently I attacked the non-fiction section of my library, focusing primarily upon the sections devoted to biology, zoology, and cognitive ethology. This was one of the stranger books I picked up there. It looked amusing enough, though not terribly indepth. The title made me laugh, and well, the cover left a bit be be desired... Unfortunately, so did the book.
This book was comprised of a series of lists of odd animal behaviors and why they might act that way. It was written in a conversational manner, each little tidbit followed by an incredulous explanation that tried just too hard to be funny. Let the animals speak for themselves, or their behavior do it for them. No need to throw in puns, amazed silences, or a shrug of the shoulders. Quite frankly, the book came off as mildly insulting. A bit like the friend who just doesn't know when to stop making jokes to fill in what otherwise would have been a companionable silence...
The book would be great for younger children. Maybe middle school or so? It'd probably cause them to want to read more about animals and their behavior, and they might be in a better range to appreciate the humor. As for me, well... Nil nole sub sole. Most of the facts I already knew, and what I did learn didn't particularly surprise me.
This book was comprised of a series of lists of odd animal behaviors and why they might act that way. It was written in a conversational manner, each little tidbit followed by an incredulous explanation that tried just too hard to be funny. Let the animals speak for themselves, or their behavior do it for them. No need to throw in puns, amazed silences, or a shrug of the shoulders. Quite frankly, the book came off as mildly insulting. A bit like the friend who just doesn't know when to stop making jokes to fill in what otherwise would have been a companionable silence...
The book would be great for younger children. Maybe middle school or so? It'd probably cause them to want to read more about animals and their behavior, and they might be in a better range to appreciate the humor. As for me, well... Nil nole sub sole. Most of the facts I already knew, and what I did learn didn't particularly surprise me.
May 23, 2013
I lost most of my interest in this pretty quickly, but remained *just* interested enough to finish it, though it took forever and was kind of a chore. A lot of the facts in the book aren't that interesting -- I get the feeling that a lot were thrown in as filler to make it book-lengthed. Some of the facts that are interesting are not explained in enough detail; for example, "All male birds used to have penises. Now only 3 percent do. Among the minority are swans" (80). Uh, what? Sources are provided for every fact, but it doesn't help most people if the source is a scholarly article they can't access. The descriptions are often vague and in some cases the name of the creature isn't even given, so that makes doing one's own research pretty difficult, too. This would have been a much better book with fewer facts and better descriptions.
July 3, 2014
I though most animals, especially the cute ones, lived innocuous lives, seemingly free of human-like drama---don't you believe it. You will never look at the animal kingdom in the same way! This book also answered the puzzler of why my cat seems to find a treat placed directly in front of her with great difficulty. I always thought it was that cats don't have as good a sense of smell as dogs. This may be part of the answer, but the real answer is that cats can't see underneath their noses! As to why, pandas do handstands---so they'll look even more adorable? Nope---girl pandas think that guy pandas who can pee the highest on a tree trunk are the bomb. So some smarty pants guys figured out that handstands was the way to get the girls' undivided attention! And, THAT is the rest of the story!
February 10, 2011
I had a delightful time uncovering some of the curiosities of the natural world. I like that the book is written in snippets, much like Snapple top facts, but there were a few occasions I wished the author would have elaborated. For example, Brown writes about Spanish scientists discovering that rodents could distinguish between Dutch and Japanese, but doesn't explain the nature of the experiments conducted to arrive at this conclusion. There was also another instance where Brown seemed to be anthropomorphically describing certain things in the animal world that probably aren't as romanticized as he made them to be, but as a whole I really liked the book. At least now I know why pandas do handstands.
September 3, 2009
It's just a book of animal facts, but they're darn good facts. It says and I quote, "the sexiest parrots have fluorescent feathers . . . humans can't see the effect normally, but scientists realized it existed when they noticed some dead parrots gave off an eerie glow when placed under a fluorescent light." That's a pretty cool fact. The book also says kangaroos dig wells and sharks are immune to every known disease including cancer. Gosh, I love trivia.
November 29, 2008
Finding some interesting tidbits. And that's how it's organized: in tidbits. Predictably, I find the parenting chapters most interesting. And, because "gross is the new entertaining," (see Extreme Birds) I also learned that the male hippo, to "mark" his territory, can use his tail like a helicopter blade to fling his feces in quite a large circle, all while standing still. *sigh*
March 14, 2013
This is a cute easy read with little snippets and factoids about animals from all corners of the earth. Perfect for riding on the train, lunch breaks, or let's face it, the bathroom, it doesn't require brain power or a wide attention span. Some interesting information written in an easy to understand way.
September 2, 2013
книжка напомнила выпуск бесполезной детской энциклопедии "все обо всем" посвященный исключительно животным. фактически это просто сборник забавных фактов из жизни зверей. своеобразная книга рекордов. пользы от этой книжки мало, сгодится разве что в случае если нужно убить время. и да.. ответа на вопрос вынесенный в заглавие книги нет. почему панда стоит на голове - осталось загадкой ,)
February 4, 2014
All of the nasty, gross, perverted factoids about animals you ever wanted to know. Presented without much context or explanation as to how scientists determined the emotional feelings of insects. Very entertaining.
May 7, 2016
Из этой книги я узнала про альфа- и омега-омаров, которых каждую ночь выволакивают из их норок. А значит она бесценна.
Однако в целом это просто сборник увлекательных фактов о животных, сгруппированных по разным поп-тематикам.
Однако в целом это просто сборник увлекательных фактов о животных, сгруппированных по разным поп-тематикам.
July 8, 2007
from this book, i took away one fact that made the whole book worthwhile. what could that fact be, you ask? that herring communicate by farting! enough said. worth the whole read.
March 30, 2008
Full of useless tidbits from the animal world. Sometimes extremely funny.
August 23, 2008
All that stuff you never thougt to ask. Fun to have around and perfect for a short break this book has some trully enjoyable stuff about the animal world.
October 9, 2009
Interesting factoids about animals. Perhaps not as well edited as it could be.
December 5, 2011
Lots of fun trivia and factoids about animals, but there just wasn't enough substance for me. Every fact that was listed, I wanted to know a little bit more. It just left me wanting.
February 3, 2012
A bunch of goofy and fascinating facts about the animals? Umm yes, yes, and a thousand times yes.
April 4, 2013
I love anything educational and about animals. This book contains all sorts of interesting bits of knowledge in the form of humorous and easy to process nuggets.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews