Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch on Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More Animals with Super Sensory Powers

In this post, we feature debut authors Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch. You can hear them speak about their new book, Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More Animals with Super Sensory Powers, and try their “invitation to imagine” activities. You’ll also find other resources to explore. Thanks for joining us, and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More Animals with Super Sensory Powers

Written by Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch and illustrated by Daniel Duncan
Published by MIT Kids Press, an imprint of Candlewick Press
Release date: September 13, 2022

Fly alongside a photo-delivery pigeon, discover a honeybee’s electric secrets, and sail the high seas with a poop-sniffing dog detective on a mission to save endangered killer whales. All of these animals use their super senses, from echolocation to electroreception, to help human coworkers tackle real-world problems, such as pollution and global warming. Each chapter introduces a different animal. Readers will meet Cynthia, the pipe-fixing ferret, and Rosita, a goat who helps prevent wildfires. With bright and entertaining text alongside colorful photos and illustrations, this book examines how each animal’s behavior and biology makes it perfectly suited for the job it does. At the end of each chapter, curious young scientists are invited to explore their own human senses through fun guided experiments.

From Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More Animals with Super Sensory Powers, written by Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch.
“On a boat that’s cruising through white-capped waves off the coast of Washington State, a dog raises her nose to the sky, sniffing for a scent that could help save an entire endangered species.”
Click here to view a longer preview of Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More Animals with Super Sensory Powers, written by Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch.

Explore Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More Animals with Super Sensory Powers

Listen to Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch talking with TeachingBooks about creating Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More Animals with Super Sensory Powers. You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks , where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language.

Invitation to Imagine

TeachingBooks asks each author or illustrator on our Virtual Book Tour to share a writing prompt, a drawing exercise, or just an interesting question to spark curiosity and creativity. Enjoy the following activity contributed by Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch.

Imagination Activity with Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch

This activity is adapted from Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More Animals with Super Sensory Powers:

If a rabbit could keep a journal, what would it say? What about a robin, a fruit fly, a sunflower, or your pet goldfish? Pick an animal (or even a plant) and spend a few minutes imagining how they might describe their day. What did they see, hear, smell, or otherwise sense? What were they reacting to or trying to accomplish? If you’d like, you can illustrate or act out this prompt instead.

Finish This Sentence . . . with Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch

As part of our Virtual Book Tour, TeachingBooks asks authors and illustrators to complete short sentence prompts. Enjoy Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch’s responses.

“A surprising thing that helps me work is…”

A surprising thing that helps me work is naps, lots of them. Whenever I get stuck on a writing problem, a 15-minute nap resets my brain and helps me come back to the problem with a slightly fresher set of eyes.—Christina Couch

“I knew I would be a writer when…”

I knew I would be a writer when I realized I didn’t have the right kind of patience to be a scientist. I always wanted to have a career where I could learn a lot about animals and plants, but when I tried working in a lab or doing research out in the field (that’s what scientists call “outside”), I found that focusing on the same question for a long time made me feel restless. Following around scientists and their research subjects, and writing about what they do, allows me to let my curiosity run free.—Cara Giaimo

“I hope that my book may encourage kids to think about…”

I hope that our book may encourage kids to think about how important and amazing other species are. Even beyond the jobs highlighted in this book, animals, plants, fungi, and microbes make the world plentiful, balanced and interesting—plus, they give us interconnection, inspiration, and the opportunity to look outside ourselves. Our lives are often really busy with human stuff, but it’s good to remember everyone else sometimes.—Cara Giaimoo

“A strange topic I had to research for our book is…”

A strange topic I had to research for our book is killer whale poop. One of our chapters profiles a dog who’s trained to sniff killer whale poop in order to help biologists find poop samples. Friends, the world of whale poop is huge and gross and fascinating. I learned that killer whale poop comes in a rainbow of colors—red, orange, and green, among them—and that this material is a rich source of data for researchers, offering clues about population health, genetics, diet, and environmental challenges these animals encounter. I also learned that, unsurprisingly, whale poops—not just killer whale poop—can be very, very large, so big that divers sometimes call big clouds of whale poop “poo-nados.”—Christina Couch

Thank you!

To wrap up this Virtual Book Tour, we thank Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch for signing a book for all of us.

Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More Animals with Super Sensory Powers signed by the authors Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch

More Connections to Cara Giaimo and Christina Couch and Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More Animals with Super Sensory Powers

Explore all of the titles featured in the TeachingBooks Virtual Book Tour: one link with author interviews, lesson plans, activities, and more!

All text and images are courtesy of Cara Giaimo, Christina Couch, Daniel Duncan, and Candlewick Press and may not be used without expressed written consent.