But Why?
Questions children, and adults that remain curious, ask about the natural world, answered in short conversations between Maya and her Grandad. Each one is revealed a turn at a time, so you or the reader can go at their own pace and maybe even ‘take part’ in the conversation by thinking about what the other person might say. Choose a question to begin, or filter them by school year group.
Being curious is often the beginning of a fun adventure. Asking questions is a great way to learn. Some of the most brilliant people became that way precisely because they kept asking questions. Often if you ask yourself a question, an answer will magically present itself. Try it! You might not always be right, but every idea can lead to new ideas and questions and before you know it you are exploring and sharing these ideas with others and learning together.
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15 examplesWhere do all the bees go in winter?
A winter garden apparently empty of bees opens up into a conversation about three very different kinds of bee — honeybee, bumblebee, and solitary bee — each with its own winter strategy. It ends on the discovery that 'bees' is not one story but many, and that the garden is never quite as empty as it looks.
Why does a caterpillar turn into a butterfly instead of just growing bigger?
Watching a caterpillar on a nettle leaf, Maya asks why it has to go through the strange, costly process of becoming a chrysalis at all. The conversation unpicks the idea that a caterpillar and a butterfly are two completely different tools for two completely different jobs — and that the transformation, strange as it is, is one of the most successful inventions in the history of life.
Why is the oak bare but the holly still green?
Standing between a leafless oak and a glossy holly in winter, a child works out — by feeling the leaves — that dropping leaves and keeping leaves are two different answers to the same cold, and neither one is wrong.
Why are there no cherries on that cherry tree?
A spring walk past a frothy, blossom-laden ornamental cherry unpicks why blossom doesn't always become fruit — and ends on the surprising fact that the showy petals are made from the very parts that would have made the cherries.
Why do some moths look exactly like the tree bark they sit on?
Finding a pale, bark-patterned moth resting on a lichen-covered wall, Maya asks how it got to look so exactly like the surface behind it. The conversation introduces natural selection through the peppered moth's famous story — how a population shifted from pale to dark during the Industrial Revolution, and back again as the air cleared — and lands on the idea that colour is not decoration but survival, shaped by countless generations of being seen or not being seen.
Where did the swallows go, and why did the robin stay?
An autumn sky empty of swallows leads to the question of why some birds fly thousands of miles to Africa while the robin stays for Christmas — and ends on the idea that each bird can only live the life its body is shaped for.
Why are there tadpoles in the pond but never any baby frogs — only tadpoles?
A pondside visit in spring reveals that the pond is full of tadpoles but there are no tiny frogs to be seen. Following the question leads through the complete frog life cycle, the slow business of growing legs, and the dramatic moment when a tadpole becomes a froglet and leaves the water — ending on the realisation that the 'baby frog' stage happens so fast and at such a precise moment that it's easy to miss entirely.
Why is the grass green and not blue or red?
Lying on the lawn, Maya asks why everything around her is green. Grandad guides her through the idea that leaves use sunlight to make food — but only certain colours of light — and that green is the colour the leaf doesn't need, bounced back for our eyes to see. It ends on the strange and true idea that a green plant is wearing the one colour of sunlight it throws away.
Why do worms come up onto the path when it rains?
A wet garden path littered with earthworms becomes the starting point for discovering how worms breathe, how they move, and why the rain turns their underground world into a place they must leave — ending on the quiet fact that a creature so easy to overlook is one of the most important animals in the garden.
Why do leaves go gold and red in autumn?
Kicking through fallen leaves, Maya wants to know where all the gold and red came from, when the tree was green all summer. The conversation uncovers the surprising truth that the gold was hiding inside the leaf the whole time — and that the tree is quietly packing up and taking its green back before letting the leaf go.
Why is the grass wet in the morning when it didn't rain?
On a clear early morning the lawn is soaking, though not a drop of rain has fallen. Grandad helps Maya work out that the water didn't come from the sky or the ground at all — it was hiding in the air the whole time, invisible, until the cold grass pulled it out.
Why don't birds get hurt sitting on electric wires?
A row of starlings sits happily on a power line that could hurt a person. Grandad leads Maya to see that the birds aren't safe because electricity can't hurt them — they're safe because, sitting on one wire, they never give the electricity any reason to leave it.
Why do you snatch your hand back from something hot before it even hurts?
Maya notices she pulled her hand off a hot mug before she felt the pain. Following the question, she discovers that her body has a shortcut that decides to move without asking her brain first — and that feeling the 'ow' a moment later is the slow part catching up.
Why do slugs and snails leave a silvery trail?
A silver squiggle across the morning patio leads Maya and Grandad to the slug that made it. Watching it glide, she discovers that the slime is no accident — it is at once the slug's road, its shoes, its shield and its way of leaving messages for other slugs.
Why is ice bigger than the water it froze from?
A bottle of water left in the freezer comes out bulging, its lid pushed off. Grandad helps Maya see that the water hasn't gained anything — it has just spread itself into a roomier shape. And that one strange habit, he shows her, is exactly what lets the fish survive the winter.