About the Book
Title: Fox Talk
Author: L.E. Carmichael, PhD
Book Designer: Michael Penman
Illustrator: Jody Bronson
Photography: Brian Dust
Publication Date: August 8, 2013
Publisher: Ashby-BP Publishing
Pages: 62
Recommended Age: 8+
Summary: When you talk to a dog, does the dog talk back? Many people think so. But for a long time, scientists didn't know how our furry friends learned to communicate with people. Luckily, Russian scientist Dmitri Belyaev had a plan. If he could tame wild red foxes, he could learn how dogs first came from wolves. By studying the way these foxes changed during domestication, the mystery of communication would be solved at a last. More than 50 years after the experiment began, Belyaev's foxes have become so tame, you can have one as a pet! Packed with eye-popping photos and first-hand research, FOX TALK reveals the story of these amazing animals... and everything they've taught us about wolves, dogs, and communication.
My Review
First of all, I absolutely love the photographs in the book. The photographers who are also the scientists captured the many expressions of the foxes and wolves besides the usual playfulness of the foxes and the snaring of the wolves.
I think I am like most people who finds foxes the cutest animal and will not hesitate to grab them to give them the biggest hugs, that is if they allow you to do that. And now after reading this book, I know some foxes DO allow human to cuddle them without being snapped at! And walking your pet fox? Wow~ Well, these are made possible by Russian Scientist Dmitri Belyaev who started to domestic wild foxes some 50 years ago to see if foxes natural behavior changes due to domestication and also to study if humans can communicate with foxes with simple command or hand gestures. It is clear that he has succeeded!
As the book title suggested, foxes really do talk. We know to identify and recognize our dogs' needs from their different type of barks. Foxes also made different sound at different situation, even the wild foxes and the domesticated foxes makes different sounds too!
This is a great book to introduce wolves, foxes and dogs to children. Parents could use this book to point out the differences between these animals and from there branch out to study each animal in more depth. I learn a few things from this book and I am sure parent and child will enjoy this book together.
Early Buzz About the Book
"Fox Talk is an educational non-fiction title exploring the domestication of dogs by studying fox behaviour and communication. The information is presented with beautiful photographs, illustrations, bubbles/boxes of brief information, and descriptions of the research findings using age-appropriate language. I think this would be an excellent resource in elementary schools or for homeschoolers in particular and I highly recommend it." ~ 5-Star Review, Mother Daughter Book Reviews
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About The Author: L.E. Carmichael
Lindsey Carmichael never outgrew that stage of childhood when nothing's more fun than amazing your friends (and correcting your teachers!) with your stockpile of weird and wonderful facts. Her sense of wonder came in handy during her career as a scientist, and in 2006, she received the Governor General's Medal for her PhD thesis, Ecological Genetics of Northern Wolves and Arctic Foxes. Lindsey finds talking about science more fun than doing it, however, and now writes for kids, teens, and occasionally adults (a sense of wonder is essential for this, too). Lindsey publishes under the name L E Carmichael, and her work has appeared in Dig, Highlights for Children, Kiki, and Canadian Tales of the Fantastic. Her published science books cover everything from animal migration to hybrid cars. When not digging up obscure or wacky details for her next nonfiction project, Lindsey's probably working on her young adult fantasy novel.
* Blog Tour Giveaway *
Prize: One winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card (or PayPal cash) + a Skype visit to a school or library of the winner's choice ($250 value).
Contest runs: January 27th to February 21, 11:59 pm, 2014
Open: Worldwide
How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. The winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the publisher, Ashby-BP Publishing and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions - feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.
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Thanks so much for taking part in the Fox Talk Blog Tour and sharing your thoughts. The photographs were absolutely amazing, weren't they? It's quite a beautiful book - glad you enjoyed it! :-)
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