The best books about babies and parenthood—throughout the animal kingdom

I laughed so hard and learned so much from this collection of science-based answers to fictional letters from animals.

The author uses an “agony aunt” advice column format to describe bizarre reproductive acts and the evolutionary history behind them. I found the structure incredibly easy to read, and I kept wanting to share snippets with my friends and family.

Compared to reading newspaper advice columns, this book provides all the schadenfreude and none of the guilt since these animals didn’t actually write in for advice and don’t care whether or not you judge them for cannibalizing their mates.

I’m in awe of how clearly and completely this book introduces the science of evo-devo, or evolutionary developmental biology, to the general public. It inspired me as both a scientist and a writer to delve into the wonders of how a fertilized egg can develop into the enormous diversity of life on our planet, from anemones to zebras and everything in between.

When I first learned about evolution, I was fascinated but struggled to understand how natural selection could produce such enormous variation. This book makes it make sense.

This book made me look at something familiar—a bird’s egg—with delightful new depth and wonder. Like all the best science writing, it reminded me how research, far from decreasing our awe at the natural world, can immeasurably increase it.

I loved learning both answers to everyday questions (what are those bits of white on a chicken yolk?) and aspects of the world I’d never have guessed (cuckoo mothers can match their egg color to the color of host eggs).

I read this book when I was a new mom myself, and I was fascinated to learn how much I had in common with animal parents all over the world. In the process of birthing, feeding, protecting, cleaning, and teaching our offspring, we all face similar challenges and tradeoffs and reap remarkable rewards.

Several stories from this book have stuck with me for years, like the one about breastfeeding bat moms needing to offload their milk into any willing mouth, whether it’s their own baby or someone else’s, just to lighten their load enough to fly!

Similar to Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice, this book made me laugh and gasp at scandalous true stories of reproductive biology. What really captured my attention, though, were the unexpected ways that human actions are affecting the courtship, mating, and spawning of animals that might seem beyond our reach.

Knowing that we can unintentionally inhibit the intimate lives of other species through pollution and climate change really brings home the importance of reforming our behavior.