Tags
animals, aquatic, common names, freshwater, insects, mussels, plants, research, writing
Research for a kid’s nature book is always a bit of an adventure, especially when you come across interesting common names. That’s when those gems, like the freshwater mussel called heelsplitter, show up. Add that to paddlefish, moonseed and frog fruit.
I think heelsplitter is one of my favorites although it makes me cringe to imagine why it’s called that. There’s also a type of giant water bug called toe-biter that’s actually big enough to catch tadpoles and small fish. I may never wade barefoot through streams again.
Many other common names are fun without being quite so scary. Consider the plants duckweed, lizardtail, lamb’s quarters and monkeyflower. Or the animals cricket frog, painted lady and daddy long-legs.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to have kids draw pictures of what they think a plant or animal looks like from just the common name? Or to make up names of their own and illustrate them?
You might want to check out the non-science book, Mixed Beasts, where Wallace Edwards has done just that, illustrating Kenyon Cox’s imaginary plants and animals such as the “bumblebeaver” on the cover. (Cox’s original edition with black and white line art was published in 1904.)
Things get pretty interesting when nature and imagination come together.
