Do animals fall in love? by Katharina von der Gathen and Anke Kuhl

The author of Tell Me: What Children Really Want To Know About Bodies, Sex, and Emotions (2020) has written another book focused on sexual reproduction but this time it is all about animals. Katharina von der Gathen is a German sex-educator who writes with both honesty and clever humour. This non-fiction book has a very detailed contents section with the chapters divided into three main headings: The Art of Seduction, Mating and The Babies Arrive. Within each chapter are further categories with headings such as Dance with me, When love hurts and Difficult births. The opening introductory page begins with a series of handwritten questions in speech bubbles such as Do Animals have sex too? Can animals be gay? How do elephants have sex? The introduction then continues with an explanation of the book and covers the following topics:

How they find and compete for mates
The unusual ways they have sex
How animal babies are conceived
How they make their way into the world.

The information presented to the reader takes them on a very interesting and wondrous journey with amazing facts shared. The author uses correct terminology throughout so for many readers this may require explanation. For example the male silverfish fertilizes the female by weaving fine gossamer threads over the floor where he deposits his sperm capsule alongside. When the female silverfish detects the threads she opens her ovipositor to take up the waiting sperm.

This book is full of informative material that children will enjoy browsing through and sharing with their peers and adults. The colourful graphic-style illustrations provide an important visual and often humorous connection. This book would be a worthwhile addition to any home, school or public library with the possibility of guidance and support for younger readers.

Themes: Animal Reproduction, Animal Facts, Vertebrates, Invertebrates, Humour, Animal Biology.

Kathryn Beilby