This Is How I Grow

How do baby mammals grow? Food! And with a lot of help from their mothers.

This book shares the life cycle story of eight different mammal babies from habitats across the globe. Readers learn essential facts about each animal's birth, nursing, weaning, hunting or foraging skills, and other techniques that they must learn from their mother (and community) before they can be “all grown up.”

As they page through the expansive panoramic illustrations, readers explore the vast diversity of the mammal world and learn about those things that unite all mammals. The written text foregrounds the importance of mother's milk in infancy and learning to find food as each animal matures; the lifelike visual text provides more information about each species, including their habitat, family group, and relative size.

An extensive free Teacher's Guide provides further information and hands-on activities to expand opportunities for learning. This book is designed for students ages 7-10 (grades 2-5). Content aligns with the NGSS (detailed articulation is outlined in the Teacher's Guide).

Dia L. Michels is an award-winning science and parenting writer who has authored or edited over a dozen books for both children and adults. While her topics include science and math books for middle grade students, her passion is promoting attachment parenting and supporting breastfeeding. A popular speaker, she lectures frequently at conferences, universities, libraries, and schools around the country. The mother of three grown children, she lives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., with four cats and a dog. She can be reached at Dia@PlatypusMedia.com.