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Pests & Other Friends: Discover the True Nature of the Most Maligned Animals
Pests and so-called nuisance animals get a bad rap…
…but each and every one of them serves a purpose in their ecosystem. Learn how helpful, intelligent, and fascinating these creatures can be in this lushly illustrated exploration of North American wildlife.
Armadillos dig holes in backyards, but did you know that they also consume many troublesome species like fire ants, yellowjackets, and cockroaches? Or that prairie dog burrows provide other animals with much needed shelter? From the deserts of the Southwest to the city streets of the East Coast, Pests & Other Friends celebrates the unique ways in which these underappreciated animals benefit their individual environments.
Halsey Berryman’s beautifully detailed, whimsical artwork captures the distinctive traits of these regularly slandered critters, ensuring you’ll never look at pigeons, skunks, or alligators the same way again.
…but each and every one of them serves a purpose in their ecosystem. Learn how helpful, intelligent, and fascinating these creatures can be in this lushly illustrated exploration of North American wildlife.
Armadillos dig holes in backyards, but did you know that they also consume many troublesome species like fire ants, yellowjackets, and cockroaches? Or that prairie dog burrows provide other animals with much needed shelter? From the deserts of the Southwest to the city streets of the East Coast, Pests & Other Friends celebrates the unique ways in which these underappreciated animals benefit their individual environments.
Halsey Berryman’s beautifully detailed, whimsical artwork captures the distinctive traits of these regularly slandered critters, ensuring you’ll never look at pigeons, skunks, or alligators the same way again.
128 pages, Hardcover
Published March 31, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 13, 2026
If you're looking for AMAZING drawings of lots of animals that are considered 'pests', then this is the perfect book for you. Seriously, I was staring at the garter snakes and alligators, and especially all the birds, because I'm a big bird lover I guess 😅 Pigeons and crows are some of nature's best creatures, change my mind
Also apparently there are people who purposefully run over box turtles?? Where are they, they need to be jailed, I'm not even joking about that
Some of the cursive font on the side-notes was hard to read, but that's literally the only thing I would change. Otherwise, great book about animals with bad reputations!
Also apparently there are people who purposefully run over box turtles?? Where are they, they need to be jailed, I'm not even joking about that
Some of the cursive font on the side-notes was hard to read, but that's literally the only thing I would change. Otherwise, great book about animals with bad reputations!
April 17, 2026
I wanted to love this as the topic is something I'm really interested in. I had a few issues that made me not love it as much as I wanted.
Starting with the positives:
That art style! Gorgeous, it was what drew me to the book and it was consistently amazing throughout. I spent a long time staring at the artwork on each page.
Some of the facts were really interesting and some pages gave great information on the importance of these animals for ecosystems and their cultural significance (eg wolves, mallards, crows and ravens). I would say the information improved as the book continued, especially in the section for ubiquitous pests (or I may have become more accustomed to the writing style). Great for a non-scientific reader to learn some general information about species they may know little about and hopefully amend opinions on 'pest' species.
Things I didn't enjoy:
This seems like a minor issue but it made my reading experience more difficult. The one cursive font for the additional facts was not the easiest to read and I spent more time focusing on deciphering the words than taking in the information
Sometimes felt repetitive between animals (exotic pets mentioning the same program twice on a one page spread and summarising pages with similar 'let them live in peace' style memos)
References featured a lot of opinion-pieces, biased wildlife societies (organisations like these are amazing but won't give the most balanced views) and news sites (nbc and bbc) compared to a minority of first hand scientific research. As a scientist, I wished this had been a little more balanced.
Sometimes graphics were a little confusing or misleading (Three 1 ton weights were shown on the page of an animal we are told weighs half a ton)
And my final, most pressing issue of this was the ommision of some of the most discriminated against groups of 'pest' animals: insects. Spiders, mosquitos, flies, locusts, beetles. All animals that are viewed as pest species despite their own ecological importance. Fish were also excluded from the pest narrative in this book, as it focused heavily on mammals and birds with a sprinkling of reptiles and one amphibian. The author even went as far as congratulating other animals of eradicating 'pest' insects throughout the book, despite the purpose of this to be to view all animals as having their essential ecological niches and pests being a socially constructed word by humans.
Overall, a very pretty, quick read which I left wishing there was a little more impact but had learned some fun interesting facts from.
Starting with the positives:
That art style! Gorgeous, it was what drew me to the book and it was consistently amazing throughout. I spent a long time staring at the artwork on each page.
Some of the facts were really interesting and some pages gave great information on the importance of these animals for ecosystems and their cultural significance (eg wolves, mallards, crows and ravens). I would say the information improved as the book continued, especially in the section for ubiquitous pests (or I may have become more accustomed to the writing style). Great for a non-scientific reader to learn some general information about species they may know little about and hopefully amend opinions on 'pest' species.
Things I didn't enjoy:
This seems like a minor issue but it made my reading experience more difficult. The one cursive font for the additional facts was not the easiest to read and I spent more time focusing on deciphering the words than taking in the information
Sometimes felt repetitive between animals (exotic pets mentioning the same program twice on a one page spread and summarising pages with similar 'let them live in peace' style memos)
References featured a lot of opinion-pieces, biased wildlife societies (organisations like these are amazing but won't give the most balanced views) and news sites (nbc and bbc) compared to a minority of first hand scientific research. As a scientist, I wished this had been a little more balanced.
Sometimes graphics were a little confusing or misleading (Three 1 ton weights were shown on the page of an animal we are told weighs half a ton)
And my final, most pressing issue of this was the ommision of some of the most discriminated against groups of 'pest' animals: insects. Spiders, mosquitos, flies, locusts, beetles. All animals that are viewed as pest species despite their own ecological importance. Fish were also excluded from the pest narrative in this book, as it focused heavily on mammals and birds with a sprinkling of reptiles and one amphibian. The author even went as far as congratulating other animals of eradicating 'pest' insects throughout the book, despite the purpose of this to be to view all animals as having their essential ecological niches and pests being a socially constructed word by humans.
Overall, a very pretty, quick read which I left wishing there was a little more impact but had learned some fun interesting facts from.
May 13, 2026
This book could have been better if the author had left out the text styles that are difficult to read. The worse is the extra facts because the text is small and done in cursive which is hard to read.
Want to Read
April 1, 2026When God sings with his creations, will a possum not be part of the choir?
April 22, 2026
I have such a soft spot for unloved creatures 🥺
An animal’s worth should never be measured by how cute it is or how inconvenient its existence is to humans.
That’s morally reprehensible on every level.
In our ravenous hubris, we humans have sought to bend and warp nature to our will. It has caused irrevocable, often irreversible, damage to this planet—and to all the other creatures who call it home.
For many of these creatures, WE are the threat.
They would live their lives in cohabitation with the rest of their environments as intended were it not for us.
Though adorable and vastly informative, this was a deeply sad read.
For some creatures discussed in this collection, I just don’t know what the future holds—but I find it hard to be hopeful. Folk are so willing to blame their problems on these innocent creatures who are just behaving as they should and trying to survive.
A wolf knows no right or wrong. Neither does a pigeon or a fox or a snake—nor any of these maligned animals.
But we do.
It makes you wonder who the real invasive, unwanted species is.
I mean, look at how we treat each other—you think animals have a chance?
Anyway.
This is such an informative and delightfully illustrated collection of so many amazing creatures who we have the privilege of sharing this one beautiful world with. Would highly recommend checking it out so you can get to know all of your neighbors~
An animal’s worth should never be measured by how cute it is or how inconvenient its existence is to humans.
That’s morally reprehensible on every level.
In our ravenous hubris, we humans have sought to bend and warp nature to our will. It has caused irrevocable, often irreversible, damage to this planet—and to all the other creatures who call it home.
For many of these creatures, WE are the threat.
They would live their lives in cohabitation with the rest of their environments as intended were it not for us.
Though adorable and vastly informative, this was a deeply sad read.
For some creatures discussed in this collection, I just don’t know what the future holds—but I find it hard to be hopeful. Folk are so willing to blame their problems on these innocent creatures who are just behaving as they should and trying to survive.
A wolf knows no right or wrong. Neither does a pigeon or a fox or a snake—nor any of these maligned animals.
But we do.
It makes you wonder who the real invasive, unwanted species is.
I mean, look at how we treat each other—you think animals have a chance?
Anyway.
This is such an informative and delightfully illustrated collection of so many amazing creatures who we have the privilege of sharing this one beautiful world with. Would highly recommend checking it out so you can get to know all of your neighbors~
July 10, 2026
I greatly enjoyed getting to read this book outside among the birds and wildlife. It gave me some more knowledge on the critters that I take for granted, which I appreciate. It was a relaxing time, but not a particularly memorable book.
This book contains a bunch of illustrations of wildlife that are generally thought of as pests. It highlights how each animal is important to the ecosystem and what they contribute. The illustrations are what originally drew me to this book, and they are by far the best part of the book. They beautifully depict each of these animals, and their silly antics on the pages delighted me.
The text is what made it less enjoyable for me. It was mostly comprised of empty fun facts that I am bound to forget after a couple of days. I was disappointed by the lack of depth, and how a lot of the information was repeated on different pages. When I found myself flipping back through this book after I had finished, I was looking at the pictures and not the actual content of the book.
This book contains a bunch of illustrations of wildlife that are generally thought of as pests. It highlights how each animal is important to the ecosystem and what they contribute. The illustrations are what originally drew me to this book, and they are by far the best part of the book. They beautifully depict each of these animals, and their silly antics on the pages delighted me.
The text is what made it less enjoyable for me. It was mostly comprised of empty fun facts that I am bound to forget after a couple of days. I was disappointed by the lack of depth, and how a lot of the information was repeated on different pages. When I found myself flipping back through this book after I had finished, I was looking at the pictures and not the actual content of the book.
July 9, 2026
"Pests and so-called nuisance animals get a bad rap ... but each and every one of them serves a purpose in their ecosystem."I am an absolute sucker for an illustrated animal book that teaches me wicked cool facts about maligned creatures and I feel so lucky to have found this one!
This book groups animals by climate/region in North America and provides either one or two page spread with gorgeous illustrations.
"Despite their reputation for being dirty, rats are cleaner than most dogs ... and they keep very tidy nests with separate areas for sleeping, storing food and excrement."
Each section discusses why the animal is considered a pest, what is being done about their populations, and their potential benefits to human society, along with a few other cool facts.
There's anything from squirrels to alligators to cougars to seagulls in here!
I thought this was a rather neat book - I really liked learning about the less-than-popular animals out there and how humans have often shaped them into being the 'pests' that they are known to be.
"Most bats are insatiable insectivores; they can consume more than half their body weight in insects each night."
I do wish the illustrations were a bit crisper. It might have been my copy, but the pictures would look great at first glance but when you looked closer, it almost had a blurred effect on the lines? It reminded me of when images are screen printed but all the edges weren't perfectly aligned.
That being said, this was a really awesome animal book and the content definitely outweighed the illustration choices for me.
July 6, 2026
Are they really pests or just animals that don’t fit the human agenda?
Halsey Berryman certainly makes a convincing case for over 60 animals found in North America.
This books is SO cool! The illustrations are gorgeous and the information is fascinating; leaving me wanting to know even more about each one. I found myself googling Grackle calls, barred owl calls, groundhog whistles… just so I could understand them better.
** I’ve seen some gripes in other reviews about the use of cursive annotations in this book, personally I don’t find it to be an issue as I grew up a part of the generation where cursive was still taught and I can read it just fine. Honestly I think it adds some extra visual appeal to the pages and I’m here for it.
Halsey Berryman certainly makes a convincing case for over 60 animals found in North America.
This books is SO cool! The illustrations are gorgeous and the information is fascinating; leaving me wanting to know even more about each one. I found myself googling Grackle calls, barred owl calls, groundhog whistles… just so I could understand them better.
** I’ve seen some gripes in other reviews about the use of cursive annotations in this book, personally I don’t find it to be an issue as I grew up a part of the generation where cursive was still taught and I can read it just fine. Honestly I think it adds some extra visual appeal to the pages and I’m here for it.
June 8, 2026
This book is very good at eliciting empathy for our wild neighbors, as well as dissuading cruelty for those we deem as lesser. I plan on gifting this book to my niece.
That said, it isn't perfect. The book does downplay the severity of some invasive species on the environments they find themselves in. Of course we should still extend our empathy to these misplaced creatures, but we should also make an effort to bolster the native inhabitants against them. Harmful invasive species shouldn't be villainized because of what they are, but humans have created a situation where they are the villains nonetheless.
That said, it isn't perfect. The book does downplay the severity of some invasive species on the environments they find themselves in. Of course we should still extend our empathy to these misplaced creatures, but we should also make an effort to bolster the native inhabitants against them. Harmful invasive species shouldn't be villainized because of what they are, but humans have created a situation where they are the villains nonetheless.
July 22, 2026
Read this with my son, age 7. We both really enjoyed it! The vocabulary is much too high for a 7 year old, so I had to explain what a lot of it meant. The art is gorgeous. My main complaint is the same as many other reviews: the cursive writing (while beautiful!!) is pretty difficult to read. I also can’t figure out how the turkey vulture made it into the book but the house fly didn’t. 🤔 a beautiful and very accessible overview of a topic I care deeply about. The ecosystem requires them all, cancel your pest control 💗💗 (that’s not in the book, just my personal soapbox)
May 16, 2026
Cute illustrations, easy read, just a bit repetitive and boring with the information. A lot of "humans caused this" tone, which isn't wrong but isn't really helpful. More facts and information about each animal and it's place in the ecosystem and such would be more enlightening for the average reader and might change some minds about "pest" animals.
nope-or-unfinished
June 1, 2026Great idea, but most pages including bitching about humans not appreciating pests and it's just...wearying. Also, strange to praise these pests for taking down other pests in a book celebrating pests.
As others have pointed out, the cursive text with fun details is very hard to read.
Love me an opossum, though!
As others have pointed out, the cursive text with fun details is very hard to read.
Love me an opossum, though!
June 8, 2026
Lovingly written and wonderfully illustrated. This copy was one of those foiled hardbacks that feels exquisite in the hands. I'd love a sequel that focuses on animals from other countries or continents too!
May 1, 2026
Rounded up from 4.5 stars - obsessed with the design and illustrations in this book.
May 10, 2026
3.5. i love this as an art book! the hand writing was super hard to read. a quick little book about animals and our impact on them’
May 19, 2026
Kudos to the author/illustrator for highlighting these animals and giving them their day in court. Knocked down a star for hard to read italics.
May 30, 2026
Beautiful full page illustrations and eye-opening information about the 'pests' of North America!
August 3, 2026
The cursive was pretty but frequently challenging to read due to size or lack of contrast.
August 5, 2026
Solid, enjoyable book with factoids about a range of North American beasties. Did I learn anything new? Probably not, but was a kind-hearted and quick read.
June 25, 2026
Informative read with the appropriate choice of words to hold the reader accountable for their place, role and accountability in why animals sometimes do what nature intends
Excellent focus on animal welfare and rights.
Excellent focus on animal welfare and rights.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews