What do you think?
Rate this book
Clever Creatures: How Animals and Plants Use Science to Survive
A look at animals and plants from the point of view of their amazing scientific adaptations.
Join bestselling author Steve Mould to uncover nature's greatest scientists, engineers, and mathematicians from plants that can count to architect insects. If you thought all scientists wear white coats and work in labs, think again!
Meet amazing engineers, such as the spiders who build immense webs from different kinds of silk; funky physicists, like the bats that can see with sound; and surprising chemists, such as the corpse flower that smells like smelly socks to attract insects to pollinate it! The science behind each genius adaptation is explained clearly in Steve Mould's trademark humorous style and you'll be amazed by nature's solutions to some of the world's trickiest problems.
Clever Creatures is a brilliant introduction to some of nature's cleverest animals and plants. You'll never look at nature the same way again!
Join bestselling author Steve Mould to uncover nature's greatest scientists, engineers, and mathematicians from plants that can count to architect insects. If you thought all scientists wear white coats and work in labs, think again!
Meet amazing engineers, such as the spiders who build immense webs from different kinds of silk; funky physicists, like the bats that can see with sound; and surprising chemists, such as the corpse flower that smells like smelly socks to attract insects to pollinate it! The science behind each genius adaptation is explained clearly in Steve Mould's trademark humorous style and you'll be amazed by nature's solutions to some of the world's trickiest problems.
Clever Creatures is a brilliant introduction to some of nature's cleverest animals and plants. You'll never look at nature the same way again!
- GenresNonfictionScience
72 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
4 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 19, 2021
Es ist schon erstaunlich, was im Laufe der Jahrmillionen die Evolution hervorbringt bzw. hervorgebracht hat. Viele Tiere sind auf ihrem Gebiet unschlagbar gut und so manches Mal schaut sich der Mensch diese Funktionsweisen ab und setzt diese in der Technik um. Das Buch ist mal etwas anders gegliedert. Nämlich nicht nach dem, was die Tiere können, sondern nach dem Fachgebiet, in das ihre Fähigkeit passt. So gibt es die Physik, Chemie, Biologie, Bau und Technik und die Mathematik.
Die gezeigten Fähigkeiten sind erstaunlich und verblüffend. Dabei dürften einige Fähigkeiten bei vielen Kindern schon bekannt sein, wie z.B. dass Fledermäuse sich mit Schallwellen orientieren, aber vieles dürfte vollkommen neu sein, wie z.B., dass sich Seepocken auf dem Meeresboden quasi „einbetonieren“. Gezeigt werden diese Fähigkeiten mit einer Mischung aus Fotos und Illustrationen, wobei der Bildanteil oftmals deutlich dem Textteil überwiegt.
Ich finde, dass die Erklärungen relativ tiefgründig sind und schon sehr ins Detail gegangen wird, um die Zusammenhänge bzw. Funktionsweisen zu erklären. Trotz dieses Tiefgangs bleiben die Texte einfach und leicht verständlich, so dass es wenig verwundert, dass das empfohlene Lesealter ab sieben Jahren ist.
Hin und wieder muss man allerdings etwas genauer differenzieren (zumindest meiner Meinung nach), damit nicht der Eindruck entsteht, als würde die Evolution bewusst etwas machen oder als würden die Tiere bewusst ihre Fähigkeiten einsetzen, so wie wir z.B. zu Taschenrechner greifen, um eine Aufgabe zu lösen. Es ist eher anders herum, dass wir Menschen beobachten und diese Beobachtungen kategorisieren und einordnen.
Fazit
Das Buch fällt mit Sicherheit in die Kategorie „Wunder der Natur“. Es ist schon erstaunlich, welche Verhaltensweisen und Strukturen in der Natur zu beobachten sind und wie bizarr und seltsam sie manchmal anmuten. Ein interessantes Buch für alle Kinder, die gerne einige Besonderheiten der Tierwelt kennenlernen möchten.
Die gezeigten Fähigkeiten sind erstaunlich und verblüffend. Dabei dürften einige Fähigkeiten bei vielen Kindern schon bekannt sein, wie z.B. dass Fledermäuse sich mit Schallwellen orientieren, aber vieles dürfte vollkommen neu sein, wie z.B., dass sich Seepocken auf dem Meeresboden quasi „einbetonieren“. Gezeigt werden diese Fähigkeiten mit einer Mischung aus Fotos und Illustrationen, wobei der Bildanteil oftmals deutlich dem Textteil überwiegt.
Ich finde, dass die Erklärungen relativ tiefgründig sind und schon sehr ins Detail gegangen wird, um die Zusammenhänge bzw. Funktionsweisen zu erklären. Trotz dieses Tiefgangs bleiben die Texte einfach und leicht verständlich, so dass es wenig verwundert, dass das empfohlene Lesealter ab sieben Jahren ist.
Hin und wieder muss man allerdings etwas genauer differenzieren (zumindest meiner Meinung nach), damit nicht der Eindruck entsteht, als würde die Evolution bewusst etwas machen oder als würden die Tiere bewusst ihre Fähigkeiten einsetzen, so wie wir z.B. zu Taschenrechner greifen, um eine Aufgabe zu lösen. Es ist eher anders herum, dass wir Menschen beobachten und diese Beobachtungen kategorisieren und einordnen.
Fazit
Das Buch fällt mit Sicherheit in die Kategorie „Wunder der Natur“. Es ist schon erstaunlich, welche Verhaltensweisen und Strukturen in der Natur zu beobachten sind und wie bizarr und seltsam sie manchmal anmuten. Ein interessantes Buch für alle Kinder, die gerne einige Besonderheiten der Tierwelt kennenlernen möchten.
July 8, 2020
Clever Creatures by Steve Mould, 72 pages. PICTURE BOOK, NON-FICTION. DK Publishing, 2020. $16.
Content: G
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Mould introduces readers to animals, bugs, and even plants that are doing amazing things. These living creatures are personified as different types of scientists that use chemistry, engineering, math, and more throughout their lives. Humans have learned from and copied some of these techniques. What will you do with this knowledge?
Clever Creatures is written as a bunch of fun facts that teach about these living organisms without a storyline or an intimidating paragraph of information. While the fun facts can be read in any order, the nonintuitive layouts on each page felt confusing sometimes, as if I was reading the information out of order. Overall, though, I loved reading this book because of the “wow” moments I experienced -- and because I then felt compelled to find someone with whom to share my new knowledge and awe.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
Content: G
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Mould introduces readers to animals, bugs, and even plants that are doing amazing things. These living creatures are personified as different types of scientists that use chemistry, engineering, math, and more throughout their lives. Humans have learned from and copied some of these techniques. What will you do with this knowledge?
Clever Creatures is written as a bunch of fun facts that teach about these living organisms without a storyline or an intimidating paragraph of information. While the fun facts can be read in any order, the nonintuitive layouts on each page felt confusing sometimes, as if I was reading the information out of order. Overall, though, I loved reading this book because of the “wow” moments I experienced -- and because I then felt compelled to find someone with whom to share my new knowledge and awe.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...
June 12, 2020
Clever Creatures: How Animals and Plants Use Science to Survive by Steve Mould is currently scheduled for release on June 23 2020. Meet amazing engineers, such as the spiders who build immense webs stretching over rivers, and funky physicists, like the geckos that can walk upside down on ceilings. Observe crazy chemists, including the sea snail that squirts a sleep-inducing liquid at passing fish, and magnificent mathematicians, like the Venus flytrap that counts to five before consuming its prey! Clever Creatures is an exciting introduction to some of nature's smartest animals and plants. It's filled with spectacular photographs of the weird, obscure and downright disgusting and the science behind each genius adaptation is explained clearly.
Clever Creatures is a well organized and formatted book that introduces the unique abilities and survival strategies of plants and animals in terms of the scientific fields of people. Each page has bold colors, combining clever illustrations, photographs, and text that explains how a variety of living creatures use physics, chemistry, and other tools that can fit into the scientific classifications we use. I thought the set up by scientific category was a little contrived and a bit unnecessary- these creatures have amazing abilities that are pure nature and instinct. I think people go a little too far trying to fit things into neat little boxes rather than simply enjoying the complexity and unique nature of the world. However, it did work and the information and layout used was all very interesting. Much of the information was things that I have heard or read before, because these types of skill and abilities are what fascinates me about nature, but I did still learn a few things and enjoyed the book.
I think Clever Creatures will be a winner with many readers that enjoy nature and science.
Clever Creatures is a well organized and formatted book that introduces the unique abilities and survival strategies of plants and animals in terms of the scientific fields of people. Each page has bold colors, combining clever illustrations, photographs, and text that explains how a variety of living creatures use physics, chemistry, and other tools that can fit into the scientific classifications we use. I thought the set up by scientific category was a little contrived and a bit unnecessary- these creatures have amazing abilities that are pure nature and instinct. I think people go a little too far trying to fit things into neat little boxes rather than simply enjoying the complexity and unique nature of the world. However, it did work and the information and layout used was all very interesting. Much of the information was things that I have heard or read before, because these types of skill and abilities are what fascinates me about nature, but I did still learn a few things and enjoyed the book.
I think Clever Creatures will be a winner with many readers that enjoy nature and science.
May 30, 2020
Content: G
Mould introduces readers to animals, bugs, and even plants that are doing amazing things. These living creatures are personified as different types of scientists that use chemistry, engineering, math, and more throughout their lives. Humans have learned from and copied some of these techniques. What will you do with this knowledge?
Clever Creatures is written as a bunch of fun facts that teach about these living organisms without a storyline or an intimidating paragraph of information. While the fun facts can be read in any order, the nonintuitive layouts on each page felt confusing sometimes, as if I was reading the information out of order. Overall, though, I loved reading this book because of the “wow” moments I experienced -- and because I then felt compelled to find someone with whom to share my new knowledge and awe.
Reviewed for https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/
Mould introduces readers to animals, bugs, and even plants that are doing amazing things. These living creatures are personified as different types of scientists that use chemistry, engineering, math, and more throughout their lives. Humans have learned from and copied some of these techniques. What will you do with this knowledge?
Clever Creatures is written as a bunch of fun facts that teach about these living organisms without a storyline or an intimidating paragraph of information. While the fun facts can be read in any order, the nonintuitive layouts on each page felt confusing sometimes, as if I was reading the information out of order. Overall, though, I loved reading this book because of the “wow” moments I experienced -- and because I then felt compelled to find someone with whom to share my new knowledge and awe.
Reviewed for https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/
June 11, 2020
My son loved this. He didn't want to stop reading, and kept asking for one more page. I'm not completely certain he got all the science concepts, (he's on the younger side), but he loved looking at the pictures. It also helped that we knew some of them through other trivia books - the dung beetles and their navigation via stars, bats and their echolocation, the zombie snails and the ants and the aphids. But there was a lot of information that we didn't know about, and we were really interested in the innovations inspired by nature.
ARC via Netgalley.
ARC via Netgalley.
May 26, 2020
This book about how animals use nature and their own innate senses to do incredible things, like math, physics, chemistry and more! This book also incorporates simple machines, engineering, and other phenomena to explain how the animal does these incredible things, and how it helps them survive in the wild. Great nonfiction title for the kids who really love animals and want to read every detail! Would be a good pair with Running Wild.
February 6, 2024
This book uses fun illustrations to explain how clever animals live in the natural world, using science and physics in a story format. The content is very short and suitable for children and can be read in 15 minutes.
May 9, 2020
Clever Creatures is a book about animals that considered the smartest in each of the science fields of chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, and mathematics. My 9 yr old (3rd grader) enjoyed the book but some of the content was over his head yet so I had to simplify some of the technical mumbo jumbo. He really liked the pictures and some of the crazy new to him animals and what they could do/create.
I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
December 23, 2021
Review to come!
March 6, 2022
Funny and informative read for kids. Some facts were even new for me, so I enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews