What Bird Did That? A driver's guide to some common birds of North America by Peter Hansard and Burton Silver, published in 1991 should be in your glove department. This book presents 40 brief paragraphs, with each describing a bird common along roadways. It also presents information on Bat droppings. Each species' dropping on a car windowsill is illustrated so you can learn to identify the birds flying overhead while you travel. If your children really get excited, there is even information on collecting and drying bird droppings.
The Rat by Barbara Hodgson was published in 1997. This is a collection of interesting facts about rats, where they live around the world, and their relationship with man. The book includes quotations from major pieces of literature and a discussion of the plagues spread by rats. This book is definitely for those who want to know unusual information. It is not intended to teach your children how to care for a pet rat.
The Compleat Cockroach by David George Gordon provides you with all you ever want to know about cockroaches between its covers. I view these creatures as unwanted pests and had a hard time understanding that some people actually keep certain cockroach species as pets! Somehow I just can't imagine a cage full of cockroaches in my home!
If I had to pick a favorite out of this collection of books, The Worm Book by Loren Nanearrow and Janet Hogan Taylor, published in 1998 would win without any question. Although most people consider worms to be something to avoid if at all possible, they do play an important role in creating soil. Worms process organic substances (dead flowers, leaves, etc) into a form that can feed plants. This book may have your children building their own worm boxes to process your kitchen and garden wastes.
I finished reading this book just before our local newspaper mentioned that local elementary students are collecting lunchroom food scraps to feed to their worms! Apparently our local school system is experimenting with using worms to compost food wastes instead of sending it to the dump.
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