My first book, THE CREATURES’ GUIDE TO CARING, is coming out May 5, 2026. You can preorder it now!
What’s it about? Here’s the publisher’s description:
A lively and revelatory journey through the evolution of caretaking on Earth, from animal parents to modern-day humans, making the case that caring for children and each other made us who we are
Poison frog fathers carry tadpoles on their backs. Killer whale grandmothers hunt to feed their adult sons. Tropical birds incubate their friends’ eggs. Spider moms let their hatchlings eat them alive. Around the world, animals from the exotic to the familiar go to astonishing lengths to keep their young alive. Their biology, brains and behaviors show us what we have in common with other creatures, as well as what’s unique about Homo sapiens.
With warmth, humor, and occasional run-ins with bodily fluids, science journalist Elizabeth Preston leads a highly accessible tour of cutting-edge research into how and why we and other animals care for young. She discovers that humans evolved to raise our kids in cooperative groups, and that the tools we’ve inherited for caretaking aren’t only for moms or dads—they’re the basis for our human society.
The book has gorgeous illustrations by Marnie Galloway, and will be published in North America by Viking (Penguin Random House) and in the UK by Scribe. I can’t wait to share it with you!
For updates on the book and my other writing—as well as advice of questionable utility from the animal kingdom—you can subscribe to my newsletter:
Elizabeth Preston 