"Just the Right Size" is an enjoyable and educational 58-page book that helps explain, according to the subtitle, "Why Big Animals Are Big and Little Animals Are Little."
Nicola Davies' book is aimed at kids but I'm sure that plenty of adults like me can learn something. I certainly did.
The book shows why the "superpowers" of tiny animals — the rhinoceros beetle can lift 850 times its own weight, for instance — can't simply be transferred to larger animals. It explains how larger animals have advantages in retaining heat and storing food for later use. It looks at clever animal adaptions such as fish gills, which pack oxygen-grabbing folds of skin into a tight space.
Clever and fun graphics help accentuate points. The book even has index, which could prove helpful to anyone using this as a teaching tool.
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