Becoming a Tiger - by Susan McCarthy (Paperback)

About the Book

From the coauthor of the bestselling "When Elephants Weep" comes a new book that combines science and true stories to explore the way animals discover their worlds, learning what they must know to survive.

From the Back Cover

From the co-author of the New York Times bestseller When Elephants Weep comes a book that uses true stories backed by scientific research to explore the way young animals discover their worlds and learn how to survive.

How does a baby animal figure out how to get around in the world? How much of what animals know is instinctive, and how much must they learn?

In Becoming a Tiger, bestselling author Susan McCarthy addresses these intriguing matters, presenting fascinating and funny examples of animal behaviour in the laboratory and in the wild. McCarthy shows us how baby animals transform themselves from clueless kittens, clumsy cubs, or scrawny chicks into efficient predators, successful foragers, or deft nest-builders. From geese to mice, dolphins to orang-utans, bats to (of course) tigers, McCarthy's warm, amusing, and insightful examinations of animal life and developments provides a surprising window into the mental worlds of our fine fuzzy, furred, finned, and feathered friends.

oReaders will be fascinated by a close look at animal intelligence, learning, and family life.

Review Quotes

"[An] Entertaining and broad-ranging review of the challenges faced by infant animals learning the skills needed in adulthood." - New Scientist
"BECOMING A TIGER takes a fascinating area of exploration ... and brings it to life in all its richness." - Dawn Prince-Hughes, Ph.D., author of Gorillas Among Us: A Primate Ethnographer's Book of Days and Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism
"Susan McCarthy knows more about animals than anyone I have ever met. She also writes beautifully, is unwilling to say anything she is not absolutely certain to be correct, and carries out meticulous research.... She is never dull or conventional, no matter what she is writing about." - Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Ph.D., co-author of When Elephants Weep