SYMBIOSIS: A Book of Unusual Friendships

by Jose Aruego ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 24, 1970

The incongruous camaraderie of nine animal pairs is custom-made for the clever Mr. Aruego. Among the mutual supporters are the crocodile and plover-see his ""clean, sparkling teeth,"" the better to bite you with. . . but not the plover perched complacently on his head, tummy full from picking the teeth clean. The ostrich and the zebra pool good eyesight and keen hearing to steer clear of the lion (moping as he envisions them loping away); the grim goatfish spare the tiny wrasse to nibble clinging parasites and brighten up their appearance. Hardly everyday animals these, but they have a comic presence, as per the sooty shearwater bird vacating her burrow each morn for the nocturnal tuatara (a lizardlike reptile) who repays her hospitality by ridding their home of centipedes, beetles and flies. The introductory definition of symbiosis suggests that the animals ""become close friends in order to help one another,"" which is putting reciprocity on the basis of personal relations--but to question it may be pedantic, and that's just what this isn't. In the hands of an imaginative teacher Symbiosis could be great fun, on the shelves of the library goodness knows what will become of it.

Pub Date: March 24, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION