Young Things
Bom Alive. By Erna Pinner. Jonathan Cape. 195 pp. Index.
Our fascination with young living things is constant, whether the young be babies, lambs, kittens or colts. Our realisation that birth is the link between existing generations and the continuation of the species only emphasises its importance. Our pleasure then, is in this new book by Miss Erna Pinner, “Born Alive.” Miss Pinner presents pleasantly, easily understood accounts of the early lifehistories in the animal kingdom. Conventional methods of presentation are not resorted to by Miss Pinner; she treats in separate chapters, methods of reproduction, the manner of carrying eggs, the feeding of young, baby transport, and the differences in appearance between young and old, for selected and interesting members of the animal world.
Nesting habits and the construction of shelters are entertainingly presented, while a chapter on metamorphosis treats the caterpillar-butterfly and the tadpole-frog changes in a simple manner. Perhaps the finest chapter deals with the feeding and care of newly-born animals. The early development of the baby kangaroo and its climb, into its mother’s pouch illustrates many of the problems associated with birth, and the care and transport of the young. Miss Pinner has illustrated her book with over a hundred black and white drawings, some from her experiences abroad. There are, of course, obvious gaps, snakes are mentioned only in an oddity sense, lizards and crocodiles are not mentioned, but this is of small consequence when placed against the value of the contents. “Born Alive” abounds with information which should satisfy children of inquiring minds with its descriptions of the habits of seals, bears, monkeys, birds, and many of the lesserknown groups. The budding biologist will enjoy this.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19591219.2.6.7
Bibliographic details
Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29082, 19 December 1959, Page 3
Word Count
283Young Things Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29082, 19 December 1959, Page 3
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.