Nursery earth The wondrous lives of baby animals and the extraordinary ways they shape our world

There is certainly a cuteness factor here. Who could resist pictures of the almost-extinct flightless baby parrot (kakapo) and the kangaroo's joey? Beyond the oohs and ahs, scientist Staaf (Squid Empire, 2017) shares significant findings about the connections between the environment and human genes. The miracle of life (and developmental biology, Staaf's specialty) is the book's journey, documenting each stage, from egg to juvenile/ teenager, with easy-to-understand research and illuminating analogies. Case study after case study, like those of the 17-year cicada and the one-day mayfly, demonstrates that, despite obvious differences, every creature (humans included) experiences these cycles, and in ways that scientists can learn from: the two-year fertilization of elephant eggs, water births of salamanders and octopus, the internal hatching of seahorses within the father's pouch. Throughout the narrative--often captured as conversations between scientists--is the notion that developmental biology can and will help treat human health issues, whether by examining the impact that ingesting milkweed (often toxic) has on monarch butterflies or via the careful cultivation of the nearly extinct condor.