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Courtesy of Zootles Butterflies, we’ve got some trivia for you so you’ll be ready to dazzle the masses at your next children’s birthday party!
The smallest butterfly in the world is about the size of your thumbnail–but the biggest? That award goes to the Queen Alexandra birdwing, which is about 11 inches across. And you may be aware that some butterflies have fake “eyes” on their wings to confuse predators, but did you know that some of them deter predators by having a nasty odor? There are even some chrysalises that look like bird droppings, which helps them avoid getting eaten.
Butterflies are able to see UV rays, which humans cannot. Many flowers have patterns on them that work like little signs pointing the way to nectar–but the patterns can only be seen by eyes capable of discerning ultraviolet (UV) light.
Here are some ways to teach a child about the differences between moths and butterflies: If it’s daytime, you’re probably looking at a butterfly, because moths are more often active at night. Moths have plump, fuzzy bodies, while butterfly bodies are more smooth. Butterfly antennae are thin, with round clubs on the tips; moth antennae are usually more feathery.
There are plenty more butterfly facts that you will find intriguing in Zootles Butterflies–from the workings of a proboscis to the construction of scales. You may never look at one of these small fluttering creatures quite the same way again!
Zoobooks Animal Babies and Zootles Butterflies (arriving in homes this month) both feature the life cycle of a butterfly, also known as metamorphosis. For younger children 2 to 6 years old, Zootles introduces butterfly metamorphosis in a full two pages. It follows the life of a swallowtail butterfly with fun facts that may amaze even you. For example, did you know that caterpillars shed their skin as they grow? Or that the caterpillar’s last skin forms the chrysalis that protects it while transforms into a butterfly?
In Zoobooks Animal Babies, for older kids 6 and up, the life cycle of the butterfly is part of a larger feature on the hatching and birth of many different kinds of animals. For older kids there are fascinating details that make metamorphosis sound like a science fiction movie plot – except it’s real: “Encased in the chrysalis, the caterpillar dissolves into a thick liquid. New life begins to take form, and eventually a butterfly breaks free of the chrysalis.”
To order Zoobooks Animal Babies or Zootles Butterflies go to www.zoobooks.com and click on the zoo store, or better yet subscribe!
The latest issue of Zootles to be hitting the newsstands is Butterflies, and you’ll notice from the cover that this title is bent on teaching not only about butterflies, but about the number 8 and the color orange, too.
More subtly, Zootles 
will sneak in some other concepts, as well. Big and small are contrasted by the Queen Alexandra’s birdwing and the western pygmy blue butterflies; Mari the migrating butterfly describes the changing seasons; and children are called on to see how butterflies are camouflaged or disguised. What else can be pulled out of the parent-child time offered by this issue? The list is pretty endless, and depends on creativity! We’d love to hear what you did with the stinky zebra butterfly on page six, or the delightful poem that is almost a tongue-twister on page eleven. Be sure and let us know!
Zoobooks Animal Babies, page 3
- The answer is on the left, from the latest Zoobooks Animal Babies that will be in homes next week.
- Many zoos, petting zoos, and museums have incubators where kids can watch eggs hatch. Try searching online using keywords “egg hatching exhibit” and add your town or city at the end. You may find incubators for snakes, amphibians or fish in addition to the more common chick hatching incubators. When you visit look for the “egg tooth”.
Want this Zoobooks? Go to www.zoobooks.com where you can order individual titles in our web store or, for the best deal, subscribe!
Preschoolers have an insatiable appetite for facts about baby animals. The current Zootles issue, Giraffes, has an entire spread devoted to more than fifteen baby giraffe facts for kids to compare.
Did we say compare? We meant it. Each one of the giraffe facts given in this spread begs to be compared and contrasted to a human baby fact. Ask your child questions as you read, such as: “When do human babies begin to walk?” Dig out old photos or a baby book and compare notes. Giraffe babies can weigh 150 pounds at birth. How much did your little one weigh? At the age of one, a giraffe youngster can be almost 12 feet tall. How about your youngster at the age of one? It can even be a conversation starter on the subject of separating from mom and dad for kindergarten. Giraffe babies are sometimes left in giraffe “kindergartens” while their mothers go off to feed, and are happily reunited again at the end of the day. How reassuring it can be to know that growing more independent is important for all living creatures.
In the end, Zootles Giraffes leads to a subject even more delightful to preschoolers than baby animals–it leads them to talk about themselves. Enjoy!
Usually, we share animal stories for children – that’s the Zoobooks mission afterall – but in the 21 March issue of The New Yorker “Back to the Harbor” by Ian Frazier is a seal story adult animal lovers will enjoy. Frazier, with loopy humor and a rambling style, relates how seals are making a comeback in New York harbor.
Besides discovering Frazier’s musings on molded-plastic lawn chairs and “The Godfather” movies, you’ll read why seals were hounded out of New York harbor in the 1900’s and how they are now moving back in. You’ll learn the range of the harbor seal and the difference between Phocidae (“true” seals) and Otaridae (sea lions and other “eared” seals). Then, share all this with your children through the Zoobooks Seals & Sea Lions, Zootles Seals and Critters Up Close Seals books available online at our webstore.
Frazier throws out a bait bucket full of fascinating tidbits, such as, how talking seals are being studied at the New England Aquarium, and how the interplay of sharks and seals periodically closed beaches at Cape Cod the last two summers. Frazier also explains “[Seals] are what environmentalists call ‘charismatic megafauna’; staring with big brown eyes into a camera lens proved to be a survival advantage for them.” So go for a fascinating swim with Frazier and the seals of New York harbor.
Has your copy of Zootles Giraffes arrived in the mail yet? It should be landing on your doorstep any day. This issue, all about giraffes, also concentrates on the hard and soft sounds of the letter “G,” and the concept of tall vs. short. To a six-year-old, however, how tall is tall? Cookie jars and mailboxes can seem astronomically high.
We strive to make the animals we teach about be as relatable as possible, and Zootles Giraffes does this in a wonderfully fun way. The issue has to be turned sideways to accommodate the stretched-out giraffe centerfold, and every anatomical giraffe feature is highlighted in a way children will understand. How big is a giraffe hoof? Why, as big as a plate, of course. And its neck? It’s as long as your bed! What other animals do you know that have a tongue as long as a child’s arm?
On the back cover, Otto and Allie–Zootles beloved mascots–discuss the advantages and disadvantages to great height. Allie decides she likes tall best, since it allows better cookie-jar access. What does your Zootles reader think?
New research about hibernating black bears may someday help sick people. Researchers at the University of Alaska have discovered that hibernating black bears are able to keep their body temperature up even while their metabolism slows. If researchers can learn how to transfer that trick to people, it could help in the treatment of strokes and heart attacks. Share the new research with your kids at the KidsPost section of The Washington Post or translate the adult version at The New York Times .
Once you’ve learned about bears hibernating in your latest Zoobooks Bears, visit the North American Bear Center website for a video of the first time researchers watched a black bear dig a den for winter hibernation. The video clip comes with sub-titles explaining what the bear is doing and why. It is engaging for kids of all ages. And don’t miss the comparison of hibernation for a chipmunk versus a black bear. It will give you the tall and the short of it.
We just finished the audio recording for the second habitat for our new ZooWho iPhone/iPad App. The new habitat will feature the African Savanna and include such kid-favorite animals as elephants, zebras and lions among many others.
Like the current ZooWho Jungle, kids will play and learn about African Savanna animals in the ultimate sticker book. Kids collect and place the animals in different scenes, switch the scenes from day to night, then share their creations with friends and family. The animals roar and trumpet and can be moved around, made bigger or smaller and, unlike paper stickers, can be re-used over and over.
And it’s not just fun, like Zoobies, Zootles and Zoobooks magazines, the idea is for kids to learn as they play. Games such as What’s My Voice and Animal Match interactively teach kids about the diets, communications, and survival strategies of the animals. And in a favorite feature, The Talking Parrot, a parrot repeats everything you say only in a parrot voice!
The new African Savanna habitat should be ready to go any day now. In the meantime, if you haven’t tried ZooWho jungle, go to www.zoobooks.com/fun. As always we welcome your suggestions.
What features would you like to see in an interactive digital version of Zootles or Zoobooks magazines? Mulling over how Zootles and Zoobooks magazines can read on an iPad or other electronic readers, there are lots of options. So many, in fact, that we need your help. Please share your thoughts on this blog or our Facebook page.
Some possibilities to prime the brain pump:
Zootles: Combine the audio book version of Zootles magazine that is posted every month on the web www.zoobooks.com/audio with the turn-the-page digital Zootles issue www.zoobooks.com/digital-subscription , so in an interactive version kids can turn the pages and hear Zootles read out loud to them. Add a feature where the printed words are highlighted as they are read out loud. Research suggests this can help kids learn to read. And how about a dictionary feature, so kids can always look up what a word means? What else?
Zoobooks: Turn the wonderful anatomy pages in Zoobooks magazine into a reveal “game” where animals electronically shed their skin to show the muscles and skeletons inside. Kids can go back and forth from skeleton to skin to understand how the anatomical parts fit together. Add a quiz on the different parts of the animal and a pick-up-sticks game where kids “build” the animal skeleton from individual bones. What else?
Add video clips: Zootles and Zoobooks magazines capture and explain the behavior and communication of animals with award-winning photos and captions. Add video clips where kids can see and hear the animals in action. What else?
Add web links: Zootles and Zoobooks already note websites that offer more information on the animals in each issue. In an interactive version, the links could be live and kids could go right to the site to learn even more. What else?
These are a few ideas for an interactive Zootles and Zoobooks. Again, please post your ideas and, if you don’t think the interactive route is the way to go, let us know that too. Thanks.
