Find Out About Animal Tools

Otters that break open shells on their chests? Crows that make hooks to snare grubs? Discover the surprising (and sometimes sneaky!) ways that animals use tools.

Many animals use tools in ingenious ways—some use sticks, others use stones, and some can even sew! The archerfish spits jets of water to knock down its prey. The palm cockatoo makes drumsticks to impress its mate with a beat. The burrowing owl attracts beetles by decorating its doorway with dung, and chimpanzees skillfully wield grass stems to fish out termites. In their fourth book in the Find Out About series, Martin Jenkins and Jane McGuinness look at a range of clever tools that show just how inventive animals can be. An end note offers more fascinating details for curious readers.

Martin Jenkins is a conservation biologist and the award-winning author of many books for children, including three previous books in the Find Out About series. He also wrote The Emperor’s Egg, illustrated by Jane Chapman; A World of Plants, illustrated by James Brown; and Under Threat: An Album of Endangered Animals, illustrated by Tom Frost. Martin Jenkins lives in Cambridge, England.

Jane McGuinness is the author and illustrator of Prickly Hedgehogs!, her first picture book. She also illustrated the three previous Find Out About books by Martin Jenkins. Jane McGuinness lives in England.