STEM Friday #Kidlit Animal Noses by Mary Holland

Fresh off the presses we have the new STEM picture book Animal Noses by Mary Holland, whose previous title, Animal Mouths, received a NSTA/CBC Outstanding Trade Science Award.

Unless they are stuffed up due to a cold or allergies, we generally take our noses for granted. However, they serve two critical functions: they allow us to breathe and to provide our sense of smell. In this book, readers explore how many different animals use their noses in special ways, including for finding food, finding mates, communicating with one another, and being alert to danger.

The book is illustrated with photographs of animals ranging from bald eagles to shrews, which allows the reader to see the range of different noses. There’s even a luna moth, which although it doesn’t have a nose, has structures that serve the same purposes.

Arbordale books always have wonderful pages to explore in the backmatter. In this case the “For Creative Minds” section has a detailed explanation of the sense of smell and “Fun Facts” (like the fact an albatross can smell it’s food 12 miles away!), as well as activities. You can see the pages here.

Animal Noses is a fun and educational look at a particular animal sense that will appeal to educators, and also thrill young naturalists and scientists. Sniff out a copy today!

Frogs and toads breathe through openings called nares.

Want to learn more?

At Growing with Science we have a post that talks about the vomeronasal organ in dogs (Dog Science) and and extensive post about insect senses, including the sense of smell.

Age Range: 5 – 8 years
Publisher: Arbordale Publishing (February 10, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1607188066
ISBN-13: 978-1607188063

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