Well-Schooled Fish and Feathered Bandits by Peter Christie

It goes without saying that you learn from other people all the time. Goodness! You’re in school for hours every day learning stuff from others. But what about animals? Do they actually learn from each other the way we do? You bet they do.

This book will give you lots of interesting examples. How about dancing monkeys? In Tanzania, chimpanzees teach each other to dance a wild boogie-woogie when it rains. In the Ivory Coast the chimpanzee dance is slow and deliberate and includes martial art-like posing. (Essential information if you’re caught in Africa without an umbrella!) Humpback whales teach each other to sing different songs. Domestic chickens teach one another that chicken meat is delicious. There are a lot of good photos in this book, too. It’s not very long, but it’s packed with things to know.