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ISBN: 9781615199129
Published: September 27, 2022
Price: $18.95 US / $24.95 CAN
Hardcover: 128 pages
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A Curious Collection of Wild Companions
An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Inseparable Species
by Sami Bayly
 

The award-winning, indie-bestselling series returns with 60 cross-species pairs—from sloth and “sloth moth” to kinkajou and balsa tree

Relationships can be complicated, and it’s no different in the wild. Meet 60 dynamic duos across the plant and animal kingdom—from “aww” to “eek”!

The Eltham copper butterfly and the Notoncus ant are BFFs for life. The ants lovingly raise the butterflies’ caterpillar babies, while feasting on the sweet substance the caterpillars produce. Everybody wins in this prime example of mutualism.

The pseudoscorpian is a total freeloader. When it wants to get around, it boards the back of the giant harlequin beetle, in a one-sided setup called commensalism.

Parasitism is where things get spooky. Learn how the green-banded broodsac (a type of flatworm) first invades the eyestalk of the amber snail, then tricks it into getting eaten by a bird—inside which the broodsac will grow up. Yikes!

Award-winning author and illustrator Sami Bayly shows us a whole world of wild companions like these—many endangered—and reminds us that we’re all inseparable.

Praise for A Curious Collection of Dangerous Creatures

#1 Indie Bestseller
Amazon Editors’ Pick—Best Nonfiction for Kids
Shortlisted for the 2021 Indie Book Awards, Best Children’s Book of the Year
Shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia 2021 Book of the Year

Praise for A Curious Collection of Peculiar Creatures

An Indie Bestseller
Amazon Editors’ Pick—Best Nonfiction for Kids
An Indie Book Awards Best Children's Book of the Year, 2020

“The perfect gift for curious young minds”—Mountain Life

“This informative book with spectacular illustrations of ugly animals will inform, entertain, and promote discussion about what is ugly and what is not.”—The Sunday Telegraph,4.5 stars

“Enough of the cute and cuddly, time to rethink the dichotomy of beauty and ugliness and to celebrate the weird and wonderful.
Bayly researched and painted 60 of the world’s most aesthetically challenged animals for her encyclopedia.”—Sydney Morning Herald
The Curious Collection of Creatures series

Sami Bayly holds a degree in natural history illustration from the University of Newcastle. She’s drawn to the weird and wonderful—finding the beauty and importance in all living things, regardless of their appearance—and is eager to share her appreciation with others. She lives in Newcastle, Australia. Visit her at SamiBayly.com.


SamiBayly
SamiBayly.com