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Susan Lumpkin

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John Seidensticker

About This Author
Reviewed

Read Time

7 min read

Age & reading levelAges 14+ · Young adult
$16.23 on Amazon

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9 Best Science & Nature Books for Pet Owners and Animal Lovers
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Front cover of Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide (The Animal Answer Guides:

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Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide

Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide by Susan Lumpkin & John Seidensticker Review: A Rigorous, Curiosity-Driven Natural History

by Susan Lumpkin, John Seidensticker

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2011 as part of The Animal Answer Guides: Q&A for the Curious Naturalist series, this illustrated paperback by wildlife conservationists Susan Lumpkin and John Seidensticker addresses 95 frequently asked questions about rabbits and their lagomorph relatives, covering everything from anatomy and ecology to conservation and the long, complex relationship between rabbits and humans.

$16.23 on Amazon
Ages 14+

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for

Wildlife educators, nature writers, and curious generalists — including engaged secondary-level students — who want a rigorous yet readable scientific grounding in rabbit biology, ecology, behavior, and conservation.

Worth it if

You want a serious, evidence-based Q&A reference that reveals the full ecological and cultural complexity of lagomorphs — including the sobering fact that several of the roughly 90 species are among the world's most endangered animals.

Skip if

You're a pet owner primarily seeking husbandry advice, or an academic zoologist who needs primary-literature depth rather than an authoritative but introductory-level overview.

Science News noted that the book surfaces little-known facts about familiar animals, highlighting that the roughly 90 rabbit species include several of the world's most endangered. NHBS describes the text as accessible in its coverage of anatomy, physiology, evolutionary history, ecology, conservation, behavior, and the rabbit-human relationship.

Sources: Science News, NHBS

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Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide by Susan Lumpkin and John Seidensticker is a scientifically grounded Q&A reference that covers 95 questions about rabbit biology, ecology, behavior, conservation, and cultural history across twelve thematic chapters — revealing lagomorphs to be far more complex and imperiled than popular culture suggests. Written by credentialed wildlife conservationists with Smithsonian institutional backing, it strikes an effective balance between scientific rigor and general accessibility, making it a strong resource for wildlife educators, nature writers, and curious naturalists. Specialists seeking a sustained monograph-style analysis or pet owners looking for husbandry guidance should note the book's episodic Q&A structure and wild-ecology focus.
Is it worth reading?
For wildlife educators, nature writers, and curious generalists, Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide delivers scope and credibility that shorter popular treatments do not — situating rabbits in their full ecological, behavioral, and cultural context with the authority of Smithsonian-backed conservationists. Standout details include the finding that several of the roughly 90 rabbit species are among the world's most endangered animals, and everyday surprises like the fact that baby rabbits nurse only once a day. The key caveat is structural: the episodic Q&A format is not designed for readers seeking a sustained analytical argument, and the book is calibrated to curious generalists rather than academic zoologists.
Similar books
Readers who enjoy the evidence-based natural history approach of Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide will find strong companions in the curated titles below. Ed Yong's An Immense World explores how animal senses reveal hidden ecological realities, offering the same spirit of challenging assumptions about the natural world. Thomas McNamee's The Inner Life of Cats and Jonathan Balcombe's What a Fish Knows both investigate the inner lives and surprising complexity of animals popularly underestimated, much as Lumpkin and Seidensticker do for rabbits. Peter Wohlleben's The Hidden Life of Trees similarly reframes a familiar subject — trees — with scientific depth aimed at a general readership.
Who should read this?
Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide is best suited to curious naturalists, wildlife enthusiasts, nature writers, and wildlife educators who want a rigorous but readable foundation in rabbit biology, ecology, and conservation. Engaged secondary-level students — the publisher designates ages 14–17 — will also find it well-calibrated to their level. Pet owners hoping for husbandry guidance and academic zoologists seeking primary-literature depth are the two groups most likely to find the book a partial fit rather than an ideal one.
What age is it for?
Best for ages 14 and up. The publisher designates a reading age of 14–17, reflecting content calibrated for engaged secondary-level students and curious generalists rather than young children or academic specialists. The scientific vocabulary and thematic depth — covering ecology, conservation status, and the rabbit-human relationship — suit confident teen readers and adults alike.
What's the reading level?
The book is written for curious non-specialists, with the publisher designating a reading age of 14–17. The prose is scientifically grounded but deliberately accessible, reflecting Susan Lumpkin's background in science communication and her nearly two decades editing ZooGoer magazine for a general audience. Academic zoologists and working ecologists may find some sections introductory, while secondary-level students and adult general readers should find the level well-matched to their needs.
What does it say about rabbit conservation?
One of the book's most striking contributions is its conservation chapter, which documents that despite the cultural shorthand of rabbits as prolific breeders, several of the roughly 90 rabbit species are among the most endangered animals on Earth — a figure noted by Science News that reframes how readers think about the group. Lumpkin and Seidensticker directly address the tension between the familiar image of thriving backyard rabbits and the endangered status of multiple species, making conservation a central rather than peripheral theme.
Summarize this book

Summarize this book

Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide, published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2011, addresses 95 frequently asked questions about rabbits and their lagomorph relatives across twelve thematic chapters — spanning anatomy, ecology, behavior, reproduction, the rabbit-human relationship, and even rabbits in stories and literature. Authors Susan Lumpkin and John Seidensticker bring professional conservation credentials from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and Friends of the National Zoo, grounding the book in evidence-based science rather than pet-care advice. The Q&A format allows readers to navigate by specific curiosity or read cover to cover, and the inclusion of a photo plate section, bibliographical references, and an index supports further research.

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Our Review

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A focused and authoritative Q&A guide that takes rabbits far more seriously — and reveals them to be far more complex — than casual familiarity might suggest.

What the Book Actually Is and Does

Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide is a science reference title, not a pet-care manual or a narrative natural history. It belongs to Johns Hopkins University Press's Animal Answer Guides series, which frames each volume around frequently asked questions posed by curious non-specialists.
Lumpkin and Seidensticker structure the book across twelve thematic chapters — moving from an introductory overview through form and function, coloration, behavior, ecology, reproduction and development, foods and feeding, the rabbit-human relationship, "rabbit problems from a human viewpoint," "human problems from a rabbit's viewpoint," rabbits in stories and literature, and a concluding section the authors call "Rabbitology." The Q&A format gives readers a clear entry point regardless of where their curiosity begins, allowing the book to function as a reference to dip into or to read from cover to cover.

The Authors' Credentials and Their Significance

Both authors bring professional conservation credentials that shape the book's tone and authority. Susan Lumpkin is a freelance writer and editor specializing in natural history and conservation who served as director of communications at Friends of the National Zoo and editor of its ZooGoer magazine for nearly two decades.
John Seidensticker is a conservation scientist and head of the Conservation Ecology Center at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, and has served as chairman of the Save the Tiger Fund Council. Their combined backgrounds — one rooted in science communication, the other in field conservation research — position the book to be both scientifically grounded and accessible to a general readership curious about the natural world.

Scope, Depth, and Surprising Content

One of the book's clear strengths is the breadth of what it chooses to cover. The verified publisher description highlights facts that cut against the familiar image of the rabbit as a simple backyard creature: baby rabbits nurse from their mothers only once a day, and some cultures have historically brewed medicinal tea from rabbit pellets.
These details signal the kind of unexpected, evidence-based content the Q&A format surfaces throughout. The book also covers the full span of lagomorph diversity — Science News noted that the roughly 90 rabbit species include several of the world's most endangered animals, a figure that reframes how readers might think about a group they assume to be thriving.
The chapter on conservation addresses this tension directly: despite the cultural shorthand of rabbits as prolific breeders, Lumpkin and Seidensticker document that several species are among the most imperiled on Earth. A plate section of photographs accompanies the text, and the book includes bibliographical references and an index.

Genuine Limitations and Audience Fit

The Q&A structure, while an effective entry point, does carry trade-offs. Readers seeking a continuous narrative argument or a traditional monograph-style treatment will find the format episodic by design — it prioritizes answerable questions over sustained analytical through-lines.
The book is also calibrated to a specific readership: curious naturalists, wildlife enthusiasts, and engaged secondary-level students rather than academic zoologists or working ecologists who would require primary literature. The publisher's designated reading age of 14–17 reflects this positioning.
Specialists may find the treatment introductory in places where deeper technical analysis would serve the subject. Those who come to the book primarily as pet owners seeking husbandry advice may find that its wild-ecology and conservation emphasis takes the book in a different direction than they anticipated.

Place in the Field and Lasting Usefulness

What makes Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide worth attention beyond its immediate audience is the seriousness it brings to a subject that popular publishing tends to treat superficially. By situating rabbits in their full ecological, behavioral, and cultural context — including a dedicated chapter on their role in stories and literature — Lumpkin and Seidensticker make a case that lagomorphs repay sustained study.
The inclusion of bibliographical references gives motivated readers a path toward deeper sources, and the series format from Johns Hopkins University Press ensures the book meets consistent standards of scientific communication. For wildlife educators, nature writers, and readers who want a rigorous but readable foundation in rabbit biology, this volume delivers scope and credibility that shorter popular treatments do not.

Sources & Further Reading

The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.

  1. Cited in this review
  2. 1
    Rabbits : the animal answer guide : Lumpkin, Susan : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

    archive.org

  3. 2
    Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide (The Animal Answer Guides: Q&A for the Curious Naturalist) by Susan Lumpkin and John Seidensticker

    sciencenews.org

  4. 3
    Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide - Susan Lumpkin, John Seidensticker - Google Books

    books.google.com

  5. Further reading
  6. 4
    Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide book by Susan Lumpkin

    thriftbooks.com

  7. 5
    Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide (The Animal Answer Guides: Q&A for the Curious Naturalist) - Lumpkin, Susan; Seidensticker, John: 9780801897894 - Abe

    abebooks.com

  8. 6
    Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide | NHBS Academic & Professional Books

    nhbs.com

Age & Reading Level

Recommended age

Ages 14+

Reading level

Young adult

Browse all teen (12–18) books

Best for: Ages 14+ — scientific vocabulary, analytical scope across ecology and conservation, and secondary-level comprehension demands suit teen and adult readers.

Skip if you are a rabbit owner seeking practical husbandry or pet-care guidance, or an academic zoologist expecting primary-literature depth.

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Ed Yong unpacks how animals perceive the world through senses wildly different from our own, using the same blend of fieldwork, evolutionary biology, and accessible science that makes Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide so compelling for natural-history readers. Where Lumpkin and Seidensticker go deep on one taxon, Yong goes wide, covering electric fish, ultraviolet-seeing birds, and magnetism-sensing sea turtles. Ideal for wildlife educators or curious readers who want rigorous science without dense jargon.

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