Although we commonly highlight picture books, today we have a middle grade title, The Hyena Scientist by by Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop.
I have to admit that I wasn’t sure I wanted to read a book about hyenas. After all, they have a bad reputation, as the authors say, “widely considered to be dirty, ugly, and mean.” The fact the book was one of the Scientists in the Field series, however, convinced me to give it a try. I’m glad I did.
It turns out that I knew very little about hyenas. Given their appearance, most people assume they are related to dogs. On the first page we learn that in fact they are more closely related to cats than dogs, and most closely related to mongooses. Mongooses?!
How many other common perceptions of them are wrong? A lot.
They are scavengers that slink around stealing prey from lions, right? Turns out that although hyenas do scavenge a bit, they are smart and formidable hunters. With careful observations, the featured scientist Kay Holekamp discovered that in fact lions steal prey from hyenas more often than the other way around.
Rather than give away all the surprises in the book, let’s just say your impression of hyenas will likely change after you read it. In fact, you just might want to go study them yourself.
And if you decide to do that, this book will show you what it might be like. As with the other books in the series, the scientists are at the center.
If you’d like to find out more, click through to Growing with Science blog where you’ll find the rest of the review and related information. Hope to see you there.
Copyright © 2018 Roberta Gibson All Rights Reserved.