A simple book is often the best showcase for a simple truth. Wild Talk: How Animals Talk to Each Other establishes clearly not only how animals communicate but also that they do so much as humans do. Sound, signal, body language, dance, facial expression, touch, repetition, echo, and scent are as integral to successful animal communication as they are to human “speech.” Even the sounds representative of animal talk – hooting, howling, rumbling, roaring – are characteristic of human conversation.

Wild Talk is the fourth title in the “Amazing Things Animals Do” series. Marilyn Baillie and Romi Caron greet readers with a brief introduction, feature 12 animals from ground, water, and sky environments, add value with thumbnail scale elaborations in a “Who’s Who” directory, and close with a reinforcing “Who Am I?” quiz.

Baillie’s brief text is pleasantly and humourously conversational. Her occasional questions are effective lures and subtle interactive nudges for both beginning readers and the “read to me” crowd. Caron’s front cover and storybook illustrations will appeal to the book’s intended audience who are not quite out of picture books.

Wild Talk is too short to be taken too much to task for oversights or omissions. However, in the interest of overall balance, Baillie should probably have included a description and example of ultrasound as well as infrasound “talk.” On a lesser but still important note, the book delivers poorly on the rear cover claim that “…there’s even a puzzle for extra fun!”