AN IMMENSE WORLD (YOUNG READERS EDITION)

A fascinating and accessible exploration of how animals experience the world, adapted for young readers from his bestselling adult original by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Yong.

Even when creatures share the same sense, such as sight or sound, the Umwelt, or “sensory bubble,” they live in may be very different. For instance, where a human hears only silence, another creature may detect sound. Some creatures can see colors in what appears to others to be darkness. Readers may decide that the broad range of how animals sense the same inputs is just as intriguing as the why. Through exploring a variety of types of senses—smell, taste, vision, color, pain, heat, touch, vibration, hearing, echolocation, and electric and magnetic field detection—this book does a bang-up job of giving readers a front-row seat to animal experiences. Well-defined vocabulary appears in “words to remember” sections at the end of chapters, and insights from experts are incorporated throughout. Mills’ gorgeous illustrations, both color and black-and-white, are original to this edition and enhance the appeal and accessibility of the content. Yong reminds readers that reducing sensory pollution by protecting animals’ natural sensory environments—darkness and quiet, especially—is crucial to their well-being and that learning more about animals will help us behave more empathetically.

An insightful and informative look at the animal kingdom with high appeal for lovers of nature and science.