Book Review: The Hidden Wisdom of Animals

We humans often think of ourselves as far removed from animals, so different that they couldn’t possibly share anything that would help us live our lives better.

But as Kate Siber notes in her book (illustrated by Kaitlynn Copithorne) The Hidden Wisdom of Animals: Surprising Things We Can Learn from Nature, many animals have traits that we would do well to copy.

The book includes information about 44 different animals and how their lives exhibit a character trait that’s also good for humans. Owls known how to listen, spiders know how to create, octopuses know how to be different, bears know how to rest, lobsters know how to keep growing, and turtles know how to protect themselves, to name a few.

The stories are present in short paragraphs or poems exploring what’s special about that animal. For example the section “penguins know how to be devoted” covers how penguin dads carry their eggs on their feet to keep them warm and how both parents work hard to keep their babies safe, warm and fed.

The section “oysters know how to transform their world” is written as a letter to the oyster thanking them for being amazing filters of ocean water and turning minor annoyances into things of beauty.

The illustrations cover the page around the text (and some animals, like octopuses and monarch butterflies) get a full page for another illustration without any text.

Most of the animals featured are probably ones that you and your kids will know, but there might be a few you aren’t familiar with, like the tutara, a lizard-like reptile that only lives in New Zealand.

The book ends with a reminder that humans are animals, too, and we can use our gifts to help protect these and other animals throughout the world.

The Hidden Wisdom of Animals is a sweet meditation on the human-like qualities that animals can posses and gives us space to think about how we can choose to be more like animals in some of these ways.

About the book: 112 pages, hardcover. Published 2025 by Wide-Eyed Editions. Suggested retail price $24.99.

Next Plan Idea:

Owl Learning Activities for Kids

Human brains are pretty amazing, allowing us to think, feel, create, communicate, move and more. But humans aren’t the only animals with cool brains, as Crab Museum explains in the book The No-Brainer Brain Explainer (illustrated by Bruno Valasse).

This book, aimed at kids in grades 1-4, is colorful and silly but also educational about how brains actually work, with billions of neurons sending electrical and chemical signals around the body.

“Everything we think, feel and experience comes from an electrical relay race, with neurons passing chemical batons to each other,” the book says. “The constant chatter of billions of brain cells creates your entire world.”

The book compares the brains of mammals to those of crabs (the book is “written” by a crab after all) and notes that crabs have fewer neurons and of course are much smaller, but they have separate parts of their brains that control their eyes and their legs. Crabs are also capable of remembering things, using tools and solving puzzles.

Some animals’ brains allow them to know more about their world in different ways from humans, such as spiders being sensitive to vibrations in their webs and catfish having an amazing sense of taste, with taste sensors all over their bodies.

It notes that 95 percent of brain activity goes toward things we do unconsciously, like breathing, walking and catching a ball flying toward us. It also talks about dreams, memory, how our emotions try to predict the future, where brains came from and fun facts about brains. For example, did you know a sperm whale is believed to have the biggest brain of any creature that’s even lived? Their brains weigh 18 pounds, compared to just 2.5 pounds for humans.

Information on what creatures have the smallest brains, the toughest brains, the most brains and those who actually eat their own brains will delight kids (and maybe gross them out a little bit). They’ll also enjoy learning about the mycelium network of fungi, which is like a brain without a body, and slime molds, which are like a brain without a brain.

It ends talking about why human brains are so special because we’ve found ways to work together, communicate and build communities on a scale bigger than any other animal.

Kids and adults alike will enjoy this colorful, silly and informational book about brains!

About the book: 64 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail price $19.99.

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply