Dawn Cusick

Publisher Annotation: This book is hot blooded! And cold blooded! And green blooded! In fact, when you dive into the world of animals and their blood, things can get pretty gross and weird. And we know you like gross and weird! In this installment of the award-winning Get the Scoop series, you will find out why deep-diving mammals have larger blood cells and more of them. And how vampire bats prefer their bloody breakfast. And why stink bugs have...

For more than forty-five years, the National Wildlife Federation has been dazzling families with amazing images and stories. Get ready for some supersonic fun that will make you say OUCH! Discover talon strength in birds of prey, sharp claws in lions and pumas, chewing mouthparts in insects, venom in snakes, and toxins in frogs. More? You want more? How about skunks that eat bees, stinging cells in jellyfish, meerkats that eat scorpions, caterpillars...

Poop gets a bad rap, but it's really very cool and useful. Animals use poop in many different ways: to trick predators and prey, send messages, feed themselves and their babies, build homes, mark their territories, and more. Young readers will discover why rabbits, hamsters, pigs and gorillas eat their own feces (gross!), why some ground-nesting birds circle their eggs with poop, and how caterpillars can build umbrellas made of poop to hide under....

Hey! Look out! Sharp-eyed readers will need to keep their eyes peeled in this engaging look at how animals of all shapes and sizes blend in and survive in their native ecosystems. How do animals deal with danger? From crocodiles standing on their tails to great white sharks with their jaws wide open to well-camouflaged venomous snakes, prospective naturalists and conservationists will have a lot to look out for in this exploration of dynamic ecosystems...

That's so gross! Prepare to be grossed out by an engaging and unique look at some of the more disgusting survival techniques from the animal kingdom. From blood-squirting reptiles to blood-sweating mammals to nose-picking primates, learn about some of the most disgusting creatures in the animal kingdom. Author Dawn Cusick and the National Wildlife Federation compile a volume as attractive as its subject is disgusting.

This presentation of animal facts is loosely organized into three sections: defense, foraging, and anatomy. There's a short introduction for each section followed by a series of boxed explanations interspersed among a gallery of close-up photographs, mostly from the National Wildlife Federation archives.