Book picks similar to
Poison Dart Frogs Up Close by Carmen Bredeson
children-s-books
first-reads
maple
nature
Math Candy
Katrina Streza - 2011
They have a lot to learn but when they visit Mr. Candor's Candy Store, math concepts suddenly seem fun and tasty. In this book, educator Katrina Streza focuses on major math concepts such as addition, units of measurement, estimation, money, sorting, multiplication and comparison. Kids see the real-life application of math and enjoy the fun and engaging stories. Math Candy features 7 short chapters with black and white illustrations and is a good bridge for beginning readers or as a read-aloud. Make sure you check out all the Candy School Chapter Books: 1. Math Candy 2. Grammar Candy 3. Map Candy 4. Science Candy 5. History Candy
The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World's Wild Places
Bernie Krause - 2012
Searching far beyond our modern world's honking horns and buzzing machinery, he has sought out the truly wild places that remain, where natural soundscapes exist virtually unchanged from when the earliest humans first inhabited the earth. Krause shares fascinating insight into how deeply animals rely on their aural habitat to survive and the damaging effects of extraneous noise on the delicate balance between predator and prey. But natural soundscapes aren't vital only to the animal kingdom; Krause explores how the myriad voices and rhythms of the natural world formed a basis from which our own musical expression emerged. From snapping shrimp, popping viruses, and the songs of humpback whales-whose voices, if unimpeded, could circle the earth in hours-to cracking glaciers, bubbling streams, and the roar of intense storms; from melody-singing birds to the organlike drone of wind blowing over reeds, the sounds Krause has experienced and describes are like no others. And from recording jaguars at night in the Amazon rain forest to encountering mountain gorillas in Africa's Virunga Mountains, Krause offers an intense and intensely personal narrative of the planet's deep and connected natural sounds and rhythm. The Great Animal Orchestra is the story of one man's pursuit of natural music in its purest form, and an impassioned case for the conservation of one of our most overlooked natural resources-the music of the wild.
Shatter My Rock
Greta Nelsen - 2012
And when a vicious migraine sends her to a saggy hotel bed and him to the marketing conference in her place, she is first relieved and then thankful.Weeks later, upon discovering she’s pregnant, Claire has no reason for concern. With the help of genetic counselors and fertility specialists, she and her college-sweetheart husband, Tim, have been striving for a sibling for their ten-year-old daughter, Ally. And now they have one: a precious baby boy they name Owen.But all is not well, and soon Claire begins spotting alarming quirks in Owen’s behavior that suggest he may be stricken with Batten Disease, the terminal illness that took her brother, Ricky, back in nineteen seventy-nine. If Claire is right and Owen is sick, other disturbing things may also be true. Things like: Claire has been raped; Owen is not Tim’s son; and Owen is going to die. As events unfold, Claire finds herself confronting unthinkable choices, the consequences of which could jeopardize her career, her marriage, and even her freedom.
The Woman, the Mink, the Cod and the Donkey
Margerie Swash - 2021
It's warm and safe in here, which you will have guessed already because it's about a human and three animals. You might not be able to remember the animals or the order they fall within the title, but that doesn't matter. The pictures will remind you that the story is about a woman, a mink, a salmon and a donkey. COD, not salmon, sorry - it's a cod.The woman is embarking on an important journey. She does not know her destination, but she knows what she'll find when she gets there: an open pub. It has been a long time since she has been in one due to a strange, sad region of yester-year called 'Lockdown'. On her travels she bumps into the mink, the cod and a donkey who inexplicably resembles Donald Trump, and together they discuss their most valued life lessons, such as the value of travel insurance, and why it's always important to wear breathable pants.
Preschooled
Anna Lefler - 2015
Behind the toddler-proof gate of Santa Monica’s exclusive Garden of Happiness, it’s the grown-ups who are getting schooled.When new preschool parent Justine discovers that the man who broke her heart back in grad school is a dad in her daughter’s class, she tells herself she’s immune to the superficial charms of the ex she calls “the crapwizard.” But when his presence opens a time tunnel of potent memories from her life before motherhood, she must find a way to defuse her old attraction to him before it undermines her marriage.Then there’s Ruben, rookie stay-at-home dad and standup comic who quits his day job to pursue his TV-writing dream on his wife’s condition that he take her place among the “power mommies” on the school committees.And ruling the sand box with an iron fist is Margaret, whose ongoing divorce from her dentist-turned-New Age-surfer husband forces her to rely on her dubious people skills in order to keep the school that has become the cornerstone of her identity.When the new school year kicks off with a flight-risk rabbit named Ozone, a school secretary in desperate need of a social filter, and some double-barreled committee recruiting tactics, it’s not all juice and cookies for Justine, Ruben, and Margaret as they struggle to play nice.
Across the Pond
Joy McCullough - 2021
After a major friendship breakup in San Diego, moving overseas to Scotland gives her the perfect chance to reinvent herself. On top of that, she’s going to live in a real-life castle! But as romantic as life in a castle sounds, the reality is a little less comfortable: it’s run-down, freezing, and crawling with critters. Plus, starting off on the wrong foot with the gardener’s granddaughter doesn’t help her nerves about making new friends. So she comes up with the perfect solution: she’ll be homeschooled. Her parents agree, on one condition: she has to participate in a social activity. Inspired by a journal that she finds hidden in her bedroom, Callie decides to join a birding club. Sure, it sounds unusual, but at least it’s not sports or performing. But when she clashes with the club leader, she risks losing a set of friends all over again. Will she ever be able to find her flock and make this strange new place feel like home?
Lenny's Book of Everything
Karen Foxlee - 2018
I knew when he talked too much about Timothy his imaginary pet eagle. He was scared.'Whatever you do,' I said to Davey on the walk to school, 'Do not tell people about your eagle. Do not tell Miss Schweitzer about your eagle.'He looked crestfallen. His shoulders slumped. He looked to make sure Timothy hadn't fallen off.Lenny, small and sharp, has a younger brother Davey who won't stop growing - and at seven is as tall as a man. Raised by their single mother, who works two jobs and is made almost entirely out of worries, they have food and a roof over their heads, but not much else. The bright spot every week is the arrival of the latest issue of Burrell's Build-It-at-Home Encyclopedia. Through the encyclopedia, Lenny and Davey experience the wonders of the world - beetles, birds, quasars, quartz - and dream about a life of freedom and adventure, visiting places like Saskatchewan and Yellowknife, and the gleaming lakes of the Northwest Territories. But as her brother's health deteriorates, Lenny comes to accept the inevitable truth; Davey will never make it to Great Bear Lake. An outstanding novel about heartbreak and healing by an award-winning author.
The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America
Matt Kracht - 2019
Featuring 50 common North American birds, such as the White-Breasted Butt Nugget and the Goddamned Canada Goose (or White-Breasted Nuthatch and Canada Goose for the layperson), Matt Kracht identifies all the idiots in your backyard and details exactly why they suck with ink drawings. Each entry is accompanied by facts about a bird's (annoying) call, its (dumb) migratory pattern, its (downright tacky) markings, and more.The essential guide to all things wings with migratory maps, tips for birding, musings on the avian population, and the ethics of birdwatching.
Home with the Cowboy
Mary Sue Jackson - 2018
In New York City, she found a place where she fit, a place filled with art and sophistication that her little Texas town lacked. While working as an au pair, Willa finally gets the opportunity to land the job of her dreams. All she has to do first is bring her two-year-old charge, Bobby, just orphaned, back to his uncle in Texas. One quick trip won’t hurt, and it certainly won’t stop her dreams of becoming a major figure in the New York art world. She’ll drop Bobby off, no matter how much it breaks her heart, and head back to where she belongs. That’s the plan and absolutely nothing, not Bobby or his brooding, handsome uncle, is going to stop her.
The last thing Daniel Gunn needs is a toddler running around, disrupting his perfectly ordered life. So when his little nephew arrives with an au pair—a distractingly pretty au pair—Daniel asks her to stay to take care of Bobby, a suggestion that’s met with more than a little resistance. No matter what he says or does, or how he tries to make his small town appealing to her, Willa is determined to go back to New York. But how can Daniel make her see that Bobby needs her? That he needs her. Not just for his nephew, but for himself.
If Daniel is going to have any chance at convincing Willa to stay, then this country boy needs to capture her heart and convince her she no longer belongs in the big city.
This novel contains sexual content and profanity.
Ruby in the Sky
Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo - 2019
She doesn’t want kids at school asking about her missing father or discovering that her mother has been arrested. But keeping to herself isn’t easy when Ahmad Saleem, a Syrian refugee in her class, decides he’s her new best friend. Or when she meets “the Bird Lady,” a recluse named Abigail who lives in a ramshackle shed near Ruby’s house. No one in town understands Abigail — people whisper about her, about her boarded-up house and the terrible secrets she must be hiding.As Mom’s trial draws near and Abigail faces eviction, Ruby is forced to make a choice: break her silence or risk losing everyone she loves. Ruby’s story is about the walls we hide behind and the magic that can happen when we are brave enough to break free.
Click'd
Tamara Ireland Stone - 2017
CLICK'D pairs users based on common interests and sends them on a fun (and occasionally rule-breaking) scavenger hunt to find each other. And it's a hit. By the second day of school, everyone is talking about CLICK'D.Watching her app go viral is amazing. Leaderboards are filling up! Everyone's making new friends. And with all the data Allie is collecting, she has an even better shot at beating her archenemy, Nathan, at the upcoming youth coding competition. But when Allie discovers a glitch that threatens to expose everyone's secrets, she has to figure out how to make things right, even if that means sharing the computer lab with Nathan. Can Allie fix her app, stop it from doing any more damage, and win back the friends it hurt-all before she steps on stage to present CLICK'D to the judges?
Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet
John Bradshaw - 2013
Today there are three cats for every dog on the planet, and yet cats remain more mysterious, even to their most adoring owners. Unlike dogs, cats evolved as solitary hunters, and, while many have learned to live alongside humans and even feel affection for us, they still don’t quite get us” the way dogs do, and perhaps they never will. But cats have rich emotional lives that we need to respect and understand if they are to thrive in our company.In Cat Sense, renowned anthrozoologist John Bradshaw takes us further into the mind of the domestic cat than ever before, using cutting-edge scientific research to dispel the myths and explain the true nature of our feline friends. Tracing the cat’s evolution from lone predator to domesticated companion, Bradshaw shows that although cats and humans have been living together for at least eight thousand years, cats remain independent, predatory, and wary of contact with their own kind, qualities that often clash with our modern lifestyles. Cats still have three out of four paws firmly planted in the wild, and within only a few generations can easily revert back to the independent way of life that was the exclusive preserve of their predecessors some 10,000 years ago. Cats are astonishingly flexible, and given the right environment they can adapt to a life of domesticity with their owners—but to continue do so, they will increasingly need our help. If we’re to live in harmony with our cats, Bradshaw explains, we first need to understand their inherited quirks: understanding their body language, keeping their environments—however small—sufficiently interesting, and becoming more proactive in managing both their natural hunting instincts and their relationships with other cats.A must-read for any cat lover, Cat Sense offers humane, penetrating insights about the domestic cat that challenge our most basic assumptions and promise to dramatically improve our pets’ lives—and ours.
Picture Perfect
Kate Forster - 2015
She’ll do anything to help them – and herself – get ahead.Actress Maggie Hall has been America’s sweetheart for nearly twenty years. And she’s about to learn that there are two things in life you just can’t fight: growing older and falling in love.Dylan Mercer – young, beautiful and defiant – has run away from New York to try her luck in Hollywood. She’s not after fame and fortune, though. Dylan’s on a quest to find her birth mother.All three women are swept up in the search for the actress who will score the role of a lifetime. But ambition and desire can bring out the worst in people. And in a town built on illusions, believing you can escape your past might just be the biggest deception of all.