Several years ago, on a casual clear-my-head walk around my neighborhood, I noticed a crow watching me. I paused. I looked more closely. Something in her shiny black eye revealed an intelligence I had never really noticed before. I wondered if she knew a lot more about me than I knew about her. What could I learn from her? And how many times had I passed by wildlife in my neighborhood, on trails and by lakeshores, and not really paid attention?

An idea was born. What if we viewed animals as our teachers instead of objects or simply extras in the movie-set backdrop of our lives? I started to observe my surroundings more closely. Over many months, I interviewed more than 50 biologists, researchers, educators, and advocates about the superpowers of animals and what we can learn from them for our own lives. I cased research papers and firsthand accounts about cultural relationships to wildlife across the planet.

The result, The Hidden Wisdom of Animals, arrives in the world today, October 21. In this nonfiction book for all ages, but especially children, I homed in on 44 animals from across the globe (as well as our own backyards) that can show us how to live more beautifully.

In these condensed excerpts, tap into that youthful, open-minded part of yourself—the part that knows it still has a lot to learn. These species can inspire us and the young people around us to reflect and remember the strengths that live within us too.

‘The Hidden Wisdom of Animals’

By Kate Siber

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The Sloth

Take It Slow

In the dripping rainforests of Central and South America, ringing with chirps and croaks and croons, look closely among the trees—a sloth may be hanging quite happily among the leaves. Sleeping for 12 hours a day and never in a hurry, they progress through the treetops at the rate of oozing honey. While everyone else hustles about, the sloth knows that in slowness there is safety and success. When a jaguar passes by, they hide by being still. What would it be like to slow down a bit, too? Sometimes, all you need to succeed is to simply just be.

The Octopus

Embrace Uniqueness

Some say octopuses are so different, they are like aliens on Earth. Made mostly of muscle without a bone in their bodies, these wonderful weirdos can squeeze into spaces scarcely bigger than their eyeballs. Depending on how you count, they have nine brains and three hearts. Instead of red blood, blue liquid streams through their veins. Each has a unique personality. Just like you and me, octopuses are totally themselves and not anyone in between. No matter how unusual you might be, take heart in knowing that the beautifully different octopus is out there also just being who she is.

The Arctic Tern

Go the Distance

With long, graceful wings that sail on the breeze, airy bones, and uncommon perseverance, the Arctic tern makes a great journey from one end of the world all the way to the other. The tern is in pursuit of the sun as it shifts over the Earth with the change in the seasons. Maybe it’s worth traveling more than 25,000 miles in a year to have a chance at eternal summer. You, too, are capable of going great distances. To what worthy cause will you devote your strength, endurance, and commitment?

The Snake

Learn to Let Go

From the savannahs of South Africa to the tropical waters where sea kraits wriggle, snakes all over the world must shed their skins. When letting go of this outer layer, they go from stupor to vigor, from listless and lifeless to energetic and free. Up to four times a year, they’re born anew in this way. Like snakes, we also learn, develop, and let go. For us, it might be a possession that is old and worn or a habit or hobby you’d like to leave behind. Is there something that you didn’t realize you already outgrew?

The Turtle

Establish Boundaries

Turtles and tortoises come in many different sizes and forms, but they all have shells that keep them safe from harm. Some shells are soft, and others are hard with spikes or mounds. Some even bend! Like turtles, all of us could use a good place to retreat to—or at the very least some personal space. Maybe it’s a spot or corner where you feel perfectly safe. Maybe it’s the way you draw a healthy line and don’t let unkind words seep in. Like the turtle, know when to protect yourself—and also when to come out, show your soft side, and thrive.

The Owl

Listen Deeply

In the quietest hour of night, an eerie call resounds through the trees. Barn owls hunt by sound alone on moonless nights—they have some of the best-known hearing of anything that breathes. Great gray owls hunt blind, flying low, listening to the faintest rustling of a mouse beneath snow. Like owls, being able to listen helps us understand the world, and we can light the way for others. In what ways are you like the owl—a wise soul who sees what is hidden, a keeper of secrets, and a wizard of deep listening?

The Hummingbird

Be Fierce

Long-nosed flower-kissers, hummingbirds live their lives in blazing fast-forward. Hummers are the smallest and lightest of birds, some weighing no more than a coin, some babies the size of a bean. Costumed in iridescent rainbow glitter, with hollow bones and airy feathers, they have giant hearts that beat more than a thousand times each minute. They look so brave as they chase each other in heroic battles and stand up to creatures great and grim—geese, eagles, hawks, and herons. But toughness is a task that comes with the tiny. Your strength, after all, isn’t about size but spirit.

The Spider

Create Beauty

Since the beginning of time, the eight-legged ones have entranced us with their ability to create something from nothing. From organs named spinnerets, they whirl their great threads, highly elastic and stronger than steel. The Bolas spider creates a silk lasso to catch fluttering moths. Net-casting spiders weave tiny nets that they toss at passing crickets. In South American forests, some spiders work together to create webs as big as school buses. Whether it’s with paint, clay, or fabric, you too have the ability to make, and, like the silk-spinning ones, fashion the world into a more beautiful place.

The Lobster

Keep Growing

Clattering about on the sandy seafloor, lobsters can live more than fifty years and don’t seem to slow down, get weaker, or lose the drive to mate. Unlike us, they never stop growing. One record lobster grew to 44 pounds. They can even lose parts of themselves—legs, claws, even an eyestalk or antenna—and regrow new ones over time. Our bodies may stop growing after a while, and we may not be able to sprout a new limb or eyestalk. But like lobsters, we too keep growing our whole lives and increase our beautiful qualities, like kindness, honesty, and humbleness.

The Chimpanzee

Make Peace

Lively, social, and loud, chimpanzees bring a party wherever they go. Living together, eventually someone will get into a fight, but one thing chimps can show us is how to make up. Even after a brawl, they come back together. Their faces look emotional as they hug and set aside differences. Sometimes they’ll reach out an upturned palm in a gesture that seems to ask for support or forgiveness. Inspired by chimps, we can listen to each other, express hurts with respect, and, through our ability to disagree and make up, actually deepen our friendships.