Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Jefferson Public Library | J 591.59 ARNOLD | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Examines how animals and insects use their sense of hearing to learn about their environment and how some creatures can hear sounds above or below the human range of hearing.
Author Notes
Caroline Arnold is the award-winning author of more than one hundred and forty books for children, including WIGGLE AND WAGGLE, A WARMER WORLD, and TOO HOT? TOO COLD?: KEEPING BODY TEMPERATURE JUST RIGHT. She lives in Los Angles, California.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Arnold begins this simple introduction to creatures with "a super sense of hearing" with a very brief explanation of the measured range of sound. An interesting chart compares the range heard by elephants, dogs, humans, and bats. The body of the work features double-page topical spreads, each with two or three paragraphs of text across broad, full-color illustrations. Bats, with their well-known use of echolocation, get a bit more coverage than other creatures, but insects, rodents, a few birds, dolphins, and even the rhinoceros are considered. Most spreads also incorporate a small framed box with an illustrated fact. The varied, often bold color tones used as backgrounds in the artwork seem to separate rather than unite the spreads, though the animals depicted are realistic and sometimes intriguing. The book should be useful in science classes, and the presentation encourages some reflective thinking.-Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Arnold discusses animals that can detect sounds above the range of human hearing (bats, owlet moths, moles), as well as those that can hear super-low sounds that humans cannot (elephants, rhinos, silky sharks). Although it's a bit unfocused in places, the choppy text, accompanied by realistic illustrations, is informative and successfully incorporates such terms as [cf2]echolocation[cf1] and [cf2]sonar.[cf1] Glos. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Bats, mice, moles, dogs, caterpillars, and dolphins use super high sounds-ultrasound-to find their young, avoid their enemies, and communicate over long distances. Other animals, like elephants, arctic terns, alligators, and prairie dogs use super-low sounds-infrasounds-to communicate. Arnold, author of many outstanding science titles (Giant Shark, 2000, etc.), introduces a dozen animals with super hearing in this appealing offering. It serves as a clear and accessible introduction to animal communications, with enough unusual facts to intrigue the more experienced reader as well. For example, Arnold explains arctic terns can hear very low sounds, like distant thunder. "They may be able to use this information to avoid storms." And "Crickets, katydids, and cicadas make sounds by rapidly rubbing their front wings together. Other insects vibrate special membranes or squirt fluids from their bodies to make ultrasounds." The brief text is complemented by dozens of full-color illustrations that extend it, often with boxes to highlight specific details. The author concludes with some Web sites for more information on animal communication and a brief glossary. A welcome addition to the science section. (Nonfiction. 5-9)
Booklist Review
Gr. 3-5, younger for reading aloud. This fully illustrated book discusses animals that can hear sounds outside the range of human hearing. From bats and dolphins echolocating with sonar to elephants and rhinoceroses communicating over long distances with low-pitched sounds to the many purposes of rodent and insect ultrasound, the range of animal perception is broad. Sounds travel through air, oceans, and the surface of the earth itself. Though the information on any one topic is limited, the book does a good job of presenting the range of animal hearing and the many ways that different species use these "almost secret sounds." Colorful pictures of animals in action illustrate Arnold's cogent text; the wide, double-page spreads give ample space for Trachok's large-scale art. An attractive introductory book on ultrasound and infrasound in the animal kingdom. --Carolyn Phelan