BE WILD

Sometimes acting like animals can be a good thing.

In a series of comparisons that are, to say the least, stretched, Crandall invites readers to wash their ears and feet like jackrabbits, “make” their beds the way orangutans literally do every night, be good listeners like owls, which can “pinpoint even the tiniest scuffle of a mouse beneath the snow,” and look to other animals for similar behavioral cues. Some behaviors do seem at least somewhat analogous—she notes that a polar bear wishing to share another bear’s meal will ask permission “calmly and respectfully” by touching noses. But characterizing two elephants twining trunks as exchanging a “handshake” may be understating the intimacy of the gesture, and her assertion that hippo sweat “works just like sunscreen” may give readers misapprehensions about their own perspiration. Edmonds illustrates the author’s premise with cozy scenes of friendly-looking wild creatures in natural settings, from chimps grooming one another and jackrabbits cleaning themselves (with their tongues) to koalas and sea otters sacked out in their respective habitats and honeybees and humpback whales demonstrating teamwork. No human figures are depicted. The book closes with a brief note from Crandall about the importance of protecting wild animals and their habitats, as well as a short list of reference books.

Easy on the eyes but saddled with an overstrained, anthropomorphic premise.