Description:
In the same lighthearted yet scientifically accurate style of Fylling's Illustrated Guide to Pacific Coast Tide Pools, this portable guidebook reveals the splendidly strange animals and plants just outside your door.
Marni Fylling's full-color illustrations make species identification a snap, and concise descriptions include fascinating (and sometimes grotesque) factoids about frequently encountered plants, insects, arachnids, birds, and mammals. With Fylling's guidance, the everyday becomes extraordinary: Pigeons share nest-building and egg-sitting duties, and mate for life--with occasional dalliances; squirrel teeth grow about six inches per year; spiders owe their characteristic creep to their "hydraulic" legs; poison oak and poison ivy's itch-inducing oil is also found in pistachios, cashews, and mangoes; and much, much more.
Brief description: Marni Fylling has been enchanted by the natural world for as long as she can remember, finding her earliest inspirations in her urban backyard and her dad's college biology textbook. She studied zoology at UC Davis and natural science illustration at UC Santa Cruz. A science illustrator, writer, and educator, her favorite activity is exploring tide pools, although sketching insects and wildflowers (or just about anything else) is a close second. Her first book with Heyday, Fylling's Illustrated Guide to Pacific Coast Tide Pools, has sold over 11,000 copies since its publication in 2015.