Because if we’re talking about the best possible compliment to your eyes and ears alike, few have as many perks and grand moments as this." —School Library Journal starred review "Out of a windless August night/A luna moth in ghostly lightBeat softly on my window screen/Tick-tick-ticking-all silver green.She whispered secrets in my ear--/I am but a stranger here.The stars are scrawled across the sky/By ghostwriters, the Moon and I.You will not see me here tonight--/I have a thousand stars to write."What could be better than cuddling up with your child and this book on your lap and allowing your imaginations to soar with the words and images? Lovingly selected by U.S. Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis and paired with vibrant animal photography, this collection of poems is an exuberant celebration of the animal kingdom and a beautiful introduction to this genre of literature. Designed for family sharing but targeted to ages 4-8, this dynamic, fresh, yet still classic collection of animal poems is a must-have for the family bookshelf.Featured poets include J. Patrick Lewis, Dorothy Aldis, Emily Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Frost, Rudyard Kipling, Jack Prelutsky, Elizabeth Madox Roberts, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and many more.Divided into chapters that group the poems by theme for extra resonance, the collection is a mix of old and new, classics, and never-before-published. A foreword from Lewis, sets the scene for helping children appreciate this gift of language and this visual feast for the eyes. Chapters include:Welcome to the World (birth of animal young)Big Ones (large animals--elephants, hippos, rhinos, bears)Little Ones (small animals--worms, insects)Winged Ones (birds and other flying creatures) Water Ones (aquatic animals--fish, dolphins, crabs)Strange Ones (curious creatures--armadillos, centipedes)Noisy Ones (loud animals--lions, hyenas)Quiet Ones (silent or still animals--hens, rabbits, snakes)Last Thought (a reflection on the world we share with animals)

    Blue Sky imprints on Charlie and becomes a great friend and a source of amazement to the whole family. Granddad, an old naturalist, is intrigued, and he does seem to get better-at least for a while. But caring for a wild creature is very demanding, and as Blue Sky grows, Charlie must find a way to protect him from the many dangers-both natural and human-made-in the rugged Teton Mountains where they live. Weaving natural history, myth, and a family narrative about life and death, Jean Craighead George demonstrates once again why she is one of the most admired children's writers today. Blue Sky will take his place in readers' hearts beside Frightful of My Side of the Mountain as one of this author's most compelling animal characters.

    Ben Belitt, a distinguished poet in his own right, is widely regarded as the leading translator of Neruda into English. Here he has given us a Neruda as fecund and engaged as ever, ceaselessly spinning the strands of his great, seamless life's work.

    Ackerman muses on the confines of therapy sessions, where she intersects "twice a week/in a painstaking hide-and-seek/making do with half-light, half-speak"; relishes the succulent pleasure of eating an apricot, with its "gush of taboo sweetness"; and imagines the "unupholstered voice, a life in outline" in her stunning elegy to C. S. Lewis. Whimsical, organic, and wise, the poems in I Praise My Destroyer affirm Ackerman's place as one of the most enchanting poets writing today.

    Reptiles & Amphibians features: ¸ Background information on evolution, anatomy, physiology, habitats, and life cycles of a range of reptile and amphibian families. ¸ A detailed look at how reptiles and amphibians survive-how they eat, move around, defend themselves, and combat temperature extremes. ¸ Examinations of metamorphosis, growth and longevity, and vocalization techniques. ¸ Practical advice on how to responsibly study reptiles and amphibians in the wild or care for them as pets. ¸ An identification guide to more than 160 of the most fascinating herpetological species from around the world, organized by environment. ¸ More than 300 full-color photos and illustrations.

    It is, to begin with, a book which gives prominence to poems rather than to the poets who wrote them. It is truly international, bringing together poems not just from these islands but from many parts of the English-speaking world. It is the first book to identify a strain in the poetry of the last half-century which is characteristic of the 'strange times' we live in - an age when, as the editors note, scientific discovery itself has encouraged us to 'make free with the boundaries of realism'. It values imagination, surprise, vivid expression, the outlandish and the playful above ideology and sententiousness. It is, in short, living proof that poetry in the English language continues to thrive and to matter.

    From the tip of their forked tongues, to skin that sheds, to the rattles on certain tails, these creatures have secrets all kids will love. Cool photos and fun facts slip us inside their surprising world.

    Seuss writing as Theo. LeSieg, with new illustrations by Joe Mathieu, about who has teeth, who doesn't, and how to keep the ones you have!From the Hardcover Library Binding edition.

    Jon Stallworthy has here selected some of the most moving, funny, shameless, and erotic love poems in the English language.Representing the work of more than 190 poets, from Sappho to Byron and Browning, from Rossetti to Wordsworth and E.E. Cummings, he offers a startling collection of love poetry down through the ages. Arranged thematically, beginning with the first drawings of young love and ending with the longlook back of the aged, and revealing love in all its different aspects and perversities, this anthology demonstrates vividly man's changeless responses to the changing seasons of the heart.Stallworthy's book of love poetry, ranging across more than twenty centuries of writing about love 'till the stars have run away' establishes beyond the eye-shadow of a doubt that love is, has been and always will be blind.--Christian Science MonitorA very thorough job...eccentric and entertaining.--Times Literary Supplement (London)

    Where did they all go? Young ones will love finding out as they feel their way through the sturdy, colorful pages of this innovative book. The cute critters provide a hands-on learning experience and the rhyming text reinforces the counting concept. Interactive, educational, adorable -- this magical countdown book adds up to a whole lot of fun.

    He sniffles and sneezes. He cannot sleep. He aches all over. Worst of all, he's feeling too poorly to play with his friends. How Bear's good friends take care of him with herbal tea and lullabies until he begins to FEEL BETTER is the heart of this loving story that will be familiar to any little one who has ever had the sniffles.

    Since its first appearance in July 2009, Matt's 'Bird of the Week' feature for the Caught by the River website has quickly become a cult hit. His pop-art watercolours are distinctive and enchanting, as are his innovative descriptions, which see great tits 'bossing the other birds around', the 'playful yet shy buoyancy' of bullfinches and the 'improbable' nature of the waxwing ('like a computer-generated samurai finch').With 52 birds, one for each week of the year, this delightful gift book will appeal to bird watching enthusiasts, children and adults, and art and illustration fans alike.

    This celebration of the wonder and variety of earth's animals is "joyous...a book to be shared" (Booklist, starred review).

    The longest poem covers less than two pages. Yet in theme and tone her writing reaches for the sublime as it charts the landscape of the human soul. A true innovator, Dickinson experimented freely with conventional rhythm and meter, and often used dashes, off rhymes, and unusual metaphors—techniques that strongly influenced modern poetry. Dickinson’s idiosyncratic style, along with her deep resonance of thought and her observations about life and death, love and nature, and solitude and society, have firmly established her as one of America’s true poetic geniuses.

    Then turn the page to find out about animals from around the world. Watercolor and collage illustrations show the many kinds of trails that animal leave behind in mud, snow, and sand.