Masters Of Disguise

Masters Of Disguise

Picture book
In a couple of months my husband will don his camo garb to try
to bag a buck. In his world November is deer hunting season. Around
the world soldiers do their tours of duty in garb designed to blend in
with their environments. But when it comes to camoflauge, Cabellos
and the US military have nothing on Mother Nature. That's the message
you get in Rebecca L. Johnson's Masters of Disguise: Amazing Animal
Tricksters.
As the book opens an ant stops to rest in the wrong place. What
seems to be a pebble (I think it looks more like a blackberry) turns
out to be an assassin bug that has built its disguise out of ant
corpses. In the eat and avoid being eaten world of nature a clever
disguise can be the winning edge. Other fascinating creatures you
will read about include:
*a baby bird that mimics a venomous caterpiller;
*a caterpillar that gets itself adopted by ants who favor it over
their offspring; and
*a small spider that actually uses natural materials to create a large
spider puppet that frightens off would be predators.
My favorite is a moth that can avoid being eaten by bats by producing
a noise that messes up its radar.
Masters of Disguise is a good way to interest children in
science. For each creature the science behind the story describes the
research that teased out its secret. This fine book is a great
addition to public and school libraries.
On a personal note, autumn is on its way to Penobscot County. I've
seen some yellow and red leaves. And the nights are getting downright
sleepable.
A great big shout out goes out to the scientists who uncover nature's
fascinating stories.
jules hathaway


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