Brown, Augustus

PERSONAL:

Married; children: Thomas, Gabriella.

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England. Agent—Mary Pachnos, Aitken Alexander Associates, 18-21 Cavaye Place, London SW10 9PT, England.

CAREER:

Journalist and author.

WRITINGS:

Why Pandas Do Handstands: And Other Curious Truths about Animals, Free Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Play It Again, Tom, Bantam Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Author of the blog Why Pandas Do Handstands.

SIDELIGHTS:

A childhood spent on the farms of his small Welsh community instilled Augustus Brown with intense curiosity about what makes animals tick—from one uncle he learned how to hypnotize a chicken, and from another, how to tickle a trout. As a journalist living in London, Brown lent his expertise to several books about animal behavior, then decided to offer his own compendium of little-known animal facts. The resulting title, Why Pandas Do Handstands: And Other Curious Truths about Animals, covers the gamut from land and sea mammals to fish, insects, and birds. In a review for the Marco Eagle, Terri Schlichenmeyer wrote that the book "will teach you all sorts of little-known tidbits about all sorts of creatures," further describing it as "easy to read, easy to grab, and you don't have to try to remember a whole cast of characters." Animal Person reviewer Mary Martin remarked that Why Pandas Do Handstands "can help humans realize how much we have in common with other animals." Pamela Cross- land called the book "delightful" in a review for Booklist, adding that it "goes one step beyond most books of this type" with its extensive reference section.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 2006, Pamela Crossland, review of Why Pandas Do Handstands: And Other Curious Truths about Animals, p. 11.

ONLINE

Animal Person,http://www.animalperson.net/ (February 26, 2007), Mary Martin, review of Why Pandas Do Handstands.

Guardian Unlimited,http://www.guardian.co.uk/ (January 6, 2007), Augustus Brown, "Venturing into the World of Animals."

Marco Eagle,http://www.marconews.com/ (Feburary 1, 2007), Terri Schlichenmeyer, "On the Shelf: Augustus Brown Delves into the Amazing World of Animals."