Just the Right Size: Why Big Animals Are Big and Little Animals Are Little - Softcover

Nicola Davies Neal Layton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 140632339X ISBN 13: 9781406323399

Publisher: Walker & Company, 2011

Synopsis

A look at why animals need to be the size they are - part of the six book series about natural biology which started with Poo and now includes Extreme Animals and What's Eating You? Have you ever wondered why animals are the size they are? Why some animals are big, why some are wide, why some are small and others are long and thin? Find out in this informative and wittily illustrated natural history book that explains all about how animals fit in to their environment and why, big, wide, small, long or thin, they are all just the right size.

About this title

About the Author

Nicola Davies is a zoologist and writer, who has also produced and presented several radio and TV programmes. Her books for children include many acclaimed non-fiction titles such as Poo, Extreme Animals and Ice Bear (9781406302059), as well as the novel Home (9780744559835). She lives in Devon. Neal Layton has illustrated more than 40 books, including Poo by Nicola Davies and Rover by Michael Rosen. He has also illustrated his own stories, which include Oscar and Arabella and Bartholomew and the Bug, both winners of the Smarties Book Prize Bronze Award. He lives in Hampshire.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–8—This unique title uses geometry to discuss the varying strengths and capabilities of different animals. In a chatty tone, Davies starts off by describing the strict rules that control what bodies can and cannot do. She goes on to explain how the strongest animals are much smaller than humans. "Some important features of bodies—like how much food and air they need—depend on volume and weight. Others—like the strength of muscles—depend on cross section or surface area." This is the basis for the BTLT (Big Thing, Little Thing) Rule: "If you DOUBLE the length of something, its surface area and cross section go up FOUR times, while its volume and weight go up EIGHT times!" BTLT is used throughout to explain why humans cannot fly, yet Arctic terns can travel 20,000 miles every year from pole to pole and back again. Humans cannot lift buses, but the rhinoceros beetle can lift 850 times its own weight. The author uses clear language and engaging examples throughout. Cartoon illustrations add humor and clarity to the book. A handy introduction to animal sizes.—Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI
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About this edition

• Publisher: Walker & Company
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 140632339X
• ISBN 13: 9781406323399
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 61