Journeying through human and natural history, The Whale is the result of his voyage of discovery into the heart of this obsession and the book that inspired it: Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. Taking us deep into their domain, Hoare shows us these mysterious creatures as they have never been seen before. Following in Ishmael's footsteps, he explores the troubled history of man and whale; visits the historic whaling locales of New Bedford, Nantucket, and the Azores; and traces the whale's cultural history from Jonah to Free Willy. Winner of the prestigious BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, The Whale is an unforgettable and often moving attempt to explain why these strange and beautiful animals still exert such a powerful hold on our imagination.

    Charles Darwin's theory of common descent no longer needs to be a scientific mystery to inquisitive young readers. Meet Grandmother Fish.Told in an engaging call and response text where a child can wiggle like a fish or hoot like an ape and brought to life by vibrant artwork, Grandmother Fish takes children and adults through the history of life on our planet and explains how we are all connected.The book also includes comprehensive backmatter, including:- An elaborate illustration of the evolutionary tree of life- Helpful science notes for parents- How to explain natural selection to a child

    From gathering honey in spring to building cozy campfires in fall, the friends make the most of each season, both enjoying the great outdoors and staying snug inside. Learning the alphabet is fun when adventuring with these critters, and children and adults alike will delight in Teagan White's sweet, nostalgic illustrations.

    Cat lovers will be enthralled with his insights into the feline world, from the secret of catnip to the true meaning of a purr. Exploring the mysteries of animal communication, Caras explains cat vocabulary (nine consonants, five vowels) and the incredible phenomenon of psi-trailing, a cat's ability to find its way home after being transported several miles away. Filled with charming stories about the felines in his own life, the author helps us see wild and domestic cats for the remarkable creatures they are. The New York Times Book Review called this work, "As thorough and sensitive a tour of the cat's world as a human being can contrive".

    In captivity, octopuses have been known to identify individual human keepers, raid neighboring tanks for food, turn off lightbulbs by spouting jets of water, plug drains, and make daring escapes. How is it that a creature with such gifts evolved through an evolutionary lineage so radically distant from our own? What does it mean that evolution built minds not once but at least twice? The octopus is the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien. What can we learn from the encounter?In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how subjective experience crept into being—how nature became aware of itself. As Godfrey-Smith stresses, it is a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared. Tracking the mind’s fitful development, Godfrey-Smith shows how unruly clumps of seaborne cells began living together and became capable of sensing, acting, and signaling. As these primitive organisms became more entangled with others, they grew more complicated. The first nervous systems evolved, probably in ancient relatives of jellyfish; later on, the cephalopods, which began as inconspicuous mollusks, abandoned their shells and rose above the ocean floor, searching for prey and acquiring the greater intelligence needed to do so. Taking an independent route, mammals and birds later began their own evolutionary journeys.But what kind of intelligence do cephalopods possess? Drawing on the latest scientific research and his own scuba-diving adventures, Godfrey-Smith probes the many mysteries that surround the lineage. How did the octopus, a solitary creature with little social life, become so smart? What is it like to have eight tentacles that are so packed with neurons that they virtually “think for themselves”? What happens when some octopuses abandon their hermit-like ways and congregate, as they do in a unique location off the coast of Australia?By tracing the question of inner life back to its roots and comparing human beings with our most remarkable animal relatives, Godfrey-Smith casts crucial new light on the octopus mind—and on our own.

    He’s been bitten by twenty-six venomous snakes, been stung by three stingrays, and survived a near-fatal scorpion sting while deep in the Amazon jungle. He’s received more than four hundred stitches and broken twenty-three bones, including breaking his back in three places, and had to learn how to walk again. But when you research only the venom you yourself have collected, the adventures—and danger—never stop.Imagine a three-week-long first date in Siberia catching venomous water shrews with the daughter of a Russian war hero; a wedding attended by Eastern European prime ministers and their machine-gun-wielding bodyguards and snakes; or leading a team to Antarctica that results in the discovery of four new species of venomous octopi. Bryan’s discoveries have radically reshaped views on venom evolution and contributed to the creation of venom-based life-saving medications. In pursuit of venom, he has traveled the world collecting samples from Indonesia to Mexico, Germany, and Brazil. He’s encountered venomous creatures of all kinds, including the Malaysian king cobra, the Komodo dragon, and the brush-footed trapdoor spider. Bryan recounts his lifelong passion for studying the world’s most venomous creatures in this outlandish, captivating memoir, where he and danger are never far apart.

    From the springtime frolic of Oscar, Cat-About-Town to the yuletide warmth of The Christmas Day Kitten, these stories-radiantly illustrated by Peter Barrett and Ruth Brown-are perennial favorites, and this new complete edition will make a wonderful gift for all readers, great and small.

    Fathoms: The World in the Whale blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore: How do whales experience ecological change? Will our connection to these storied animals be transformed by technology? What can observing whales teach us about the complexity, splendour, and fragility of life? In Fathoms, we learn about whales so rare they have never been named, whale songs that sweep across hemispheres in annual waves of popularity, and whales that have modified the chemical composition of our planet’s atmosphere. We travel to Japan to board the ships that hunt whales and delve into the deepest seas to discover the plastic pollution now pervading the whale’s undersea environment. In the spirit of Rachel Carson and Rebecca Solnit, Giggs gives us a vivid exploration of the natural world even as she addresses what it means to write about nature at a time of environmental crisis.

    Birds of North America By Chandler S Robbins, Bertel Bruun, and Herbert S Zim, Illustrated By Arthur Singer - Golden Press New York Western Publishing Company Inc - Copyright 1966 By Western Publishing Company Inc - Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 66-16454 - 340 Pages - ISBN 0307136566 - 13656 - Robbins, Bruun, Zim, Singer - Golden A Guide to Field Identification - Quick Guide to Major Families - Loons, Grebes, Albatrosses and Petrels, Geese, Surface Ducks, Bay and Sea Ducks, Hawks and Eagles, Grouse, Quail, Herons, Rails and Coots, Plovers, Sandpipers, Gulls and Terns, Alcids, Pigeons and Doves, Cuckoos, Owls, Swifts, Hummingbirds, Woodpeckers, Flycatchers, Swallows, Jays and Crows, Chickadees and Titmice, Nuthatches and Creepers, Wrens, Thrashers, Thrushes and Bluebirds, Kinglets, Vireos, Warblers, Blackbirds and Orioles, Finches, Sparrows - Table of Contents - How to Use This Book - Loons, Grebes, Tubenoses, Pelicans and Allies, Waterfowl, Vultures Hawks and Falcons, Gallinaceous Birds, Herons and Allies, Canes and Allies, Shorebirds Gulls and Alcids, Pigeons and Doves, Cuckoos Anis and Roadrunners, Owls, Goatsuckers, Swifts and Hummingbirds, Parrots, Trogons, Kingfishers, Woodpeckers, Perching Birds, Bibliography, Index

    Bright collage illustrations and simple text reinforce the theme that everyone has a mother, and every mother loves her child.Meet the little joey bouncing in mother kangaroo’s pouch. Watch little cubs prance around mother lion. Swim with a baby dolphin calf in the deep blue sea. Eric Carle’s classic, colorful collages of baby animals and their mothers will delight and comfort young readers.Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? is a warm and approachable book to use in the classroom, to cuddle up reading with a little one, and to give as a baby shower or Mother's Day gift.

    Each of the big cats has something to say about Simon not being “cat” enough. According to them, he just doesn’t measure up. He doesn’t have Lion’s mane or Cheetah’s spots. He doesn’t sleep in trees like Panther or climb mountains like Puma. He’s small and fuzzy, not big and strong. But ultimately, Simon shows the big cats that he’s just like them . . . only smaller.   A celebration of both individuality and community, I Am a Cat is a strong debut that shows we’re all more alike than we think . . . if we look closely enough.

    They can be fully appreciated by an individual reader, but they're particularly striking when read aloud by two voices, making this an ideal pick for classroom use. Eric Beddows′s vibrant drawings send each insect soaring, spinning, or creeping off the page in its own unique way.With Joyful Noise, Paul Fleischman created not only a fascinating guide to the insect world but an exultant celebration of life.

    Quirky full-color illustrations portray dozens of birds chatting about their distinctive characteristics, including color, shape, plumage, and beak and foot types, while tongue-in-cheek cartoons feature banter between birds, characters, and the reader ("Here I am, the noble spruce grouse. In a spruce grove. Eatin’ some spruce. Yep."). Interactive and enjoyable tips bring an age-old hobby to new life for the next generation of bird-watchers.

    They did such a good job that, by 1926, no gray wolf packs were left in the park. Over the following decades, virtually every other part of the park's ecosystem was affected by the loss of the wolves --- from the animals who were their prey, to the plants that were the food for that prey, to the streams that were sheltered by those plants --- and the landscape was in distress. So, starting in 1995, in an attempt to reverse course, the government reintroduced gray wolves to the park. Over time, animal populations stabilized, waterways were restored and a healthy ecosystem was recreated across the land. It's a striking transformation, and a fascinating tale of life's complicated interdependencies.Jude Isabella's thoroughly researched, expert-reviewed text and Kim Smith's beautiful nature art bring science to life in this captivating story of renewal. Readers will recognize just how complex an ecosystem is and learn about the surprising interconnectedness of its members. Biodiversity, ecosystems, the food chain, habitats, needs of living things and the importance of human stewardship of the environment are all covered through this real-life example, offering direct links to earth and life science curriculums. Food web infographics help reinforce the information. A glossary and index add to the book's usefulness.

    Beautiful photography provides a close-up look at these terrifying "lords of the deep"--their anatomy and behavior, and the realities and myths behind their sinister reputation. This densely illustrated book is one of the most informative and technically accurate portrayals of sharks and their relatives."--(starred) Science Books & Films.