Of Kinkajous, Capybaras, Horned Beetles, Seladangs: And the Oddest and Most Wonderful Mammals, Insects, Birds, and Plants of Our World

by Jeanne K. Hanson, Deane Morrison

Describes 150 of the world's most unusual plants and animals

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Jeanne K. Hanson is a literary agent in Minneapolis who loves her job and is proud to label herself as a workaholic. In addition to her previous book, You Know Your'e Grown Up When..., she is also the author of Kinkajous, Capybaras, Horned Beetles, Seladangs.

Reviews

[Kathy Sebesta · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you wanted word bites on the interesting ways living things interrelate, how they color and feed and mate and grow, this is a book to pick up. Read a section (paragraph or a couple pages) then go on to something else.

I suppose the goal is to get you so fascinated by something you read that you'll go looking for more information. On that level the book fails for me. The material is interesting but hardly more than that.

[Ser · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is almost thirty years old and it shows in the writing style and anthropocentrism. I read it as part of a reading challenge and spent most of my time reading it wondering how much of the information is still considered accurate.

[Josh Friers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have loved this book as a kid. As an adult meh...I knew all these tibits.

[Bob Stocker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of Kinkajous, et al. by Jeanne K. Hanson and Deane Morrison is full of curious facts about the natural world. It's broken into short, disjoint, easy-to-read essays ranging in size from a paragraph to a few pages. Many essays are accompanied by attractive pen and ink illustrations. If you've spent much time learning about nature, you'll likely find a lot of information that you already know – things like cheetahs are the fastest land animal, sloths move slowly, and mosquitoes spread deadly diseases. But unless you are unusually well-informed you'll probably learn some new things too.

Because the essays are short and disjoint, the book has lots of convenient stopping places. I used them frequently and took much more time to get through this book than I typically spend on a book three times as long. That's not all bad. Disjoint information is probably assimilated best in small packages.

Although this isn't really a reference book, its utility would be improved substantially by including an index.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a series of short essays about the wonders of life on earth, focusing mostly on animals from the smallest virus to the largest whale. The book is difficult to read for long periods of time due to the short "chapters," however, it is perfect if you want a book to read when distractions are many and reading time is short. Although people will inevitably be familiar with some of the facts presented, others will fascinate. Unfortunately, it is evident that the book was written by two people because some facts are repeated. Too bad the editor didn't catch them. Well worth reading.

[Hilary · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book as part of the Spring 2009 Challenge: Read a book with 12 or more words in the title (25 points!).

The copy I borrowed was not attractive. However, I could see myself leaving this in a restroom for reading on the "throne." The factoids about the various flora/fauna are brief and the right length for the Royal Reading Room.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haven't started yet but it is the subtitle, "Of Kinkajous, Capybaras, Horned Beetles, Seladangs" that caught me. Especially the "capybaras" part.

It's okay. A bit repetitive and not descriptive enough to be really interesting but an okay book to pick up and read once in a while when you don't have anything better to do.

[Smellsofbikes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, but it's another unorganized book with a paragraph-to-page about random odd animals and their random odd characteristics.