Mama Mammals: Reproduction and birth in humans and other mammals

This is a non-fiction science title aimed at children ages 5-11, exploring the biology of reproduction and birth and early parenting in the warm-blooded class of animals that we humans belong to.

The book is packed with fascinating facts about all sorts of mammal species. For example, when trying to impress a mate, elk will lock horns, whilst hippos will smear poo on one another. We learn what happens when an egg is fertilised and how an embryo develops. We find out why some mammals have multiple births, whilst others only have single pregnancies. We learn how the gestation process differs in marsupials and how platypuses and echidnas breastfeed (spoiler alert, milk seeps out of their nipple-less chests!) We discover the importance of breastmilk and learn how different animals look after (or don’t look after) their newborns.

The book offers a refreshingly straightforward starting point for the inevitable questions about how babies come into this world, without being a sex-education book, per se. With beautiful and accessible illustrations by Malachy Egan and short, coherent texts by Cathy Evans, this is a great way of introducing the facts of life to small children.