We all need oxygen
Everything around you – from your kitchen table to your little toe – is made from a small number of simple substances called elements. In fact, there are about 90 elements that make up everything in the entire universe! You and I are built of elements. One of them forms about 21% of the air we breathe and it’s super important. It’s called oxygen.
There’s more oxygen in the human body than any other element, with carbon and hydrogen a long way behind in second and third place. We animals need a constant supply of oxygen for one simple reason – it gives cells the power to turn food into energy. Oxygen gives us the gift of life!
Everything that lives on land breathes the same air and the same oxygen. This means vast numbers of oxygen particles, or molecules, pass through every animal throughout the world, every day. Some of the oxygen molecules you breathe will have already been breathed by polar bears, lizards and flamingos!
Breath of life Earth is the only planet we know of where the air has
We all breathe
Breathing is amazing! You and I breathe 7.5 million times a year – from the moment we’re born until the moment we die. Yet often, we’re not even aware we’re doing it. All mammals can breathe without thinking, too. Other than whales and dolphins, that is, who have to focus on what they’re doing as they come up to the water’s surface to breathe. Other animals breathe in all sorts of different ways.
Birds
Chickens, like all birds, have a network of air sacs, in addition to lungs. These sacs boost the air flow through their body.
Mammals
When mammals like us breathe, fresh air rich in oxygen enters the nose or mouth and is sucked into the lungs. Tiny balloon-like structures in the lungs, called alveoli, allow red blood cells to absorb oxygen and deliver it to every other cell in the body. At the same time, waste carbon dioxide leaves the blood in the alveoli, and is breathed out.
balloon-like air sacs lungs
lungs
Insects
Grasshoppers and other insects breathe air through holes in their skin. tiny breathing holes
Back-up system
Turtles surface to breathe through their lungs. But some have a backup system, too, which means they can also take in oxygen through their bottoms!
water enters a turtle’s bottom and oxygen is absorbed
dog using an
Fish
Gills remove oxygen from water the way lungs remove it from air. They look like slits.
gills
BREATHING PROBLEMS
Just like us, other animals catch colds and flu. They can also suffer from a condition that makes breathing difficult, which is called asthma. No cure has yet been found for asthma. But there are treatments to soothe the condition, which can work for humans and other animals. Some animal companions use an asthma inhaler similar to one people use.
fish.
We all move around
Animals move in so many different ways! There are animals that walk, run, crawl, swim, dive, slide, glide, climb, hop, jump and fly. Parasites may even burrow inside the bodies of other animals to feed on them. Moving is one of those things that ALL animals do. Muscles pull on an animal’s body, allowing it to move. If the animal has bones, like we do, the muscles pull on joints, which are where two or more bones meet. In some ways we animals work like giant puppets, with muscles as strings pulling on our bones. But if the animal doesn’t have bones, the joints are hinged body parts made from connecting parts of a stiff outer shell. If you look at a lobster or prawn, you’ll see the joints in its shell and legs.
Almost every animal on this planet moves using muscles. (Well, apart from some simple creatures that can get by without them.) But why do animals like us move? It’s because we all have to go and find our food and stay safe from danger.
Dive Kingfishers fold their wings to dive for
Crawl
Millipedes crawl using their dozens of legs.
Climb Bushbabies have strong fingers to climb trees.
Swim Swordfish swim very fast through the ocean.
Run
Gazelles have long legs to run away from predators.
Slide Snails produce masses of slime to help them slide.
Hop Kangaroos hop along on powerful back legs.
Nice move!
Many yoga poses are named after animals. This is because they were created by yoga masters who studied other creatures to learn how they move. For example, in ‘cat pose’, you arch your back in an ‘n’ shape. Cats find this much easier than we do because their spine is super-bendy. It has extra bones in its backbone, which are connected more loosely than ours.
Keeping fit
Most animals need exercise. Regular exercise is really important, whether you are a hamster, husky or human. Exercise strengthens our muscles, boosts our fitness and is great for mental health, too!
HOW MANY WAYS CAN YOU MOVE?
It’s probably a lot more than you think because even twitching a toe or blinking an eye counts as moving! And have you ever wondered how your body creates all these amazing movements? The answer is... muscles! You and I have more than 600 different muscles in our bodies and we couldn’t manage without them. Groups of muscles work together to produce facial expressions such as a smile.
using muscles to smile
We all communicate
Do you love catching up with friends? If so, that’s no surprise, because humans can be very chatty! But we don’t just communicate by talking. We also use visual signals, touch and smell. Other animals get their message across in a variety of ways, too.
Many animals communicate with sound, especially when they can’t see each other. They may sing to attract partners, give alarm calls that warn of danger and make noises to stay in touch with the rest of their family or group.
Animals also move their body or change their appearance to communicate. They might wiggle a wing, wag a tail, flap a fin or even completely change colour. These displays are like talking in secret code. When animals meet, they communicate with touch, too. A stroke or a poke, or a lick or a kick, reveals if they want to be friends or not!
Most amazingly of all, some animals have a kind of invisible message system. They produce chemical signals called pheromones. These scents linger a long time and spread through the air, water and earth to communicate with other members of the same species.
Changing colour
Chameleons have special skin cells that change colour to show their mood. A green chameleon is happy and relaxed. An excited chameleon is usually red or yellow. But if a chameleon is black, it is stressed.
Follow the leader Ants follow chemical trails left by other ants from their nest.
Lighting up Lantern fish produce light to communicate in the dark.
Watch out!
Male fiddler crabs have a huge claw. They wave it in the air to threaten other male crabs.
THE BOND WE SHARE
Companion animals soon learn to communicate with us. They understand the tone of our voice and are able to ‘read’ our body language. In turn, we can tell how they are feeling from the way they behave. Humans and animals can share a strong bond.
Animals – just like humans – have personalities and recognise each other as individuals. Bottlenose dolphins even name themselves! Every dolphin creates its own special whistle that is unique to it. The dolphins use their personal names to call to their group as they swim through the ocean. horse and human companions
Early days
Some animals start to communicate before they are even born. Baby crocodiles and baby birds call to their parents from inside their eggs to let them know they’re about to hatch.
The name game
WE ARE ALL ANIMALS
Authors: Ben Hoare, Christopher Lloyd
Foreword by: Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick
Illustrator: Mark Ruffle
Ages: 7+ | Price: £14.99 | Format: Hardback
Extent: 48pp | Trim size: 280 x 260 | Pub date: 06/03/2025
ISBN: 9781804661451
Find out how similar you are to your favourite animal.
Did you know that most animals (including us) are shaped like tubes? That animals get a lot of the same diseases (and medical treatments) we do? Or that we are distant cousins to every animal on Earth, including jellyfish! We Are All Animals celebrates our whole furry, scaly, slimy, slippery extended family, smashing to smithereens the idea that humans are very different from the rest of the animal kingdom.
• Foreword by best-selling author and TV star Supervet Professor Noel Fitzpatrick.
• Written by best-selling authors Ben Hoare, author of the An Anthology of Intriguing Animals (sold 200,000 UK/US to date) and Christopher Lloyd (also Editor of Britannica Children’s Encyclopedia, which has sold 500,000 globally to date).
• A funny, quirky look at the animal kingdom. Kids that love animals will gasp at how similar they are to their favourites.
• Underpinned by the latest science.
• Lavishly illustrated with original artwork, fascinating infographics and real-life photography.
AUTHORS
Ben Hoare is an award-winning wildlife journalist and nature nerd. He writes inspiring natural history books for children – the kind of books he loved as a kid. Several have been international bestsellers, no doubt because his two daughters read and test everything first. The Guardian newspaper said: ‘His writing is funny, informative and zinging with infectious enthusiasm.’
Christopher Lloyd was Technology Editor with The Sunday Times newspaper in London before becoming a best-selling author. His books for children include the What on Earth! series of Wallbooks, Humanimal and the best-selling Absolutely Everything! He was also the Editor of the Britannica All New Children’s Encyclopedia. He is in great demand as a lecturer and public speaker.
ILLUSTRATOR
Mark Ruffle is an illustrator and graphic designer living in the UK. Since he was young, Mark has drawn imaginary worlds, fantastic animals and marvellous humans. He is now lucky enough to draw for his job and creates fun, colourful, engaging illustrations for a wide range of ages and uses. When he’s not doodling, he can be found walking his two dogs and admiring the wildlife and rolling hills where he lives.
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