The most recommended zoology books

I love that the dedication is to the A to Z Challenge bloggers of 2014. (I was one of them!) Here's a well-written and comprehensive reference guide. There's a strong author voice and a great amount of information. It covers the importance of including diverse characters. I recommend The A-Zs of Worldbuilding: Building a Fictional World From Scratch to writers building a fictional world, and to writers using an unfamiliar setting. A necessary reference tool for authors.

Hunting Monsters zeroes in on some of the more mysterious creatures said to haunt our forests, lakes, and the deep ocean. Darren Naish brings his expertise in zoology and paleontology to the world of cryptids such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Naish, the scientific advisor for Prehistoric Planet, examines both the scientific credibility of creature sightings as well as the culture that influences our belief in mysterious animals. This well-written and fascinating book leaves readers not only with a better understanding of contemporary myths involving cryptids, but zoology as well.

I have always found the Eyewitness series of books to be very appealing and this one is no exception. Because every two-page spread can stand alone, readers can read the book from cover to cover or just dive into whatever sections or topics are most appealing to them. I find myself captivated by the high-quality photographs throughout, whether of colorful sea stars living in the cold waters around Antarctica or a fuzzy moose calf living in the Arctic. As a geographer, I find this book to stand out because it covers animals and plants of the polar regions, as well as what life in these harsh regions is like for both native peoples of the Arctic and explorers in both polar zones.

First published in 1960 this is a beautiful example of illustration in book form. From my contemporary perspective as an animal lover there is a sense that this book celebrates the tendency we have as humans to capture and own animals, with zoos, farms, and pet shops filling almost every page. To me, this book celebrates a naïve adoration and love of nature that doesn’t necessarily fit with the modern need to protect and preserve the natural habitats that humanity has spent generations pillaging. I’d like to think that this is a beautiful conversation starter about how we can best appreciate the natural world. 

I was 30 years old - more than 30 years ago - with a high-flying career in the Information Technology industry when I first read this memorable non-fiction book about two young university students who went to study lions in the most remote parts of Botswana, Africa, with nothing much more than a backpack.

I remember chills running down my spine as I read of them sleeping under the stars just metres from wild lions, who had probably never seen a human being before. It was far from an easy life, but more than anything I wanted to know first-hand how that felt.

As a non-scientist it would be even more difficult for me – but after then visiting the African wilderness as a tourist I, too, decided that I wanted to be on the ground, fighting for the welfare of Africa’s endangered wildlife. 

Another book (1958 edition) from my father’s fascinating library. 

When I began penning my first book, I wanted to be as true as I could to a rainforest and bring forth the actual characteristics and legends of the jungles. On the Track of… gave me ideas for unusual creatures, instead of the normal elves and dwarves and fairies of fantasies. I came to know about the less-known local legends, ‘hidden’ animals, and strange creatures from the remote wild corners of our planet, be it tatzulwurms or Kongamato, the last flying dragon.  

The author has combined zoology and cultural anthropology in a captivating account.

As soon as I picked up this book, I was blown away by its spectacular illustrations. There are two special foldouts where the book expands to have four-page wide illustrations of the Antarctic and Arctic regions. Most kids’ books that cover the Antarctic don’t get into as much detail about the different environments there—from pack ice to the islands around the continent. But this book does a beautiful job of showing that the Antarctic is more than just ice and snow and that the wildlife is diverse and fascinating. I also loved the section on the Arctic’s polar desert with its beautiful dwarf lupin and moss balls. Readers might be surprised to discover the butterflies and bearberries of the tundra regions as well. 

Written by an author who also happens to be a zoologist, Eugenie Clark’s life story shows incredible devotion to teaching and learning about her beloved sharks and overcoming ridiculous gender obstacles of the time. A true hero!

Bonus: more weird and awesome shark facts can be discovered in the back.

A beautiful, brilliant story about the ways in which the same cat looks different depending on your point of view.

We see the cat from the perspective of a dog, a fish, a snake, etc. In a time when children’s books can be overly didactic, this book offers a sharp corrective of “show, don’t tell.” My two-year-old loves the book, and I love reading it to her.

Matt Ridley is a science writer who has a rare knack for explaining complex ideas in ways that are witty and comprehensible to a lay audience. 

In Origins of Virtue, he weaves engaging anecdotes about academics who have argued that the function of traits we consider virtues is to uphold systems of cooperation into accounts of their ideas. I found his discussions of game theory especially interesting. 

Richard Dawkins may have provided the best review of Ridley’s book when he wrote, “If my Selfish Gene were to have a volume two devoted to humans, The Origins of Virtue is pretty much what I think it ought to look like.”