Iām a lover of wildlife and have written several nonfiction picture books on the topic, includingWinged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery, Cougar Crossing: How Hollywoodās Celebrity Cougar Built a Bridge for City Wildlife, and Ocean Soup: a Recipe for You, Me, and A Cleaner Sea. Iām also a humane educator, which inspires the focus of all my nonfiction picture books on āsolutionariesā helping people, animals, and the planet. At heart, my booksāwhich have won Golden Kite Nonfiction and Eureka! Nonfiction Honors and moreāaim to inspire compassion, inclusivity, and positive action.
A wounded bald eagle getting a new beak made from a 3D printerāwhatās not to love?! This is a great story of wildlife rehabilitation and ingenuity thatās sure to suck kids in. And while Iām usually more drawn to illustrated books, the photos in this book bring the reality of this story to life in the way only photos can. Itās such a compelling true tale, which will help kids grow more compassion and curiosity for our feathered friends.
Awarded the AAAS/SUBARU SB&F PRIZE for EXCELLENCE in SCIENCE BOOKS and 5 other children's book awards! "Three words. 3D. Printed beak. Oh come on, you aren't impressed? Well, check out the back matter on this book and you will be. It's insane!" āSchool Library Journal
Beauty and the Beak is the incredible true story about an injured wild bald eagle who received a pioneering, 3D-printed beakāand made world news! Follow Beauty close up and in photographs, from the moment she uses her baby beak to emerge from her egg, through her hunt when she uses her powerful adult beak toā¦
As a kid, I never stopped asking āBut why?ā Learning the answers always led me to new questions, and Iāve been on a life-long journey to understand the world, and how everything works. I wanted to give the joy of discovery, and the empowerment of understanding, to a new generation of readers. The amazing story of evolution seemed to be a great starting point. I wrote the book I wanted to read to my own daughter, full of adventures and grown-up science, told in a way kids can understand.
A great follow-up book for older readers who want to delve into the detail of interesting stories from our evolutionary past. Beautifully illustrated with plenty of contextual information, this book tells some amazing stories of evolutionary changes from the fossil record, including reptiles growing wings, birds with teeth, tiny elephants, and the titular walking whales. It has some lovely detail about the changes to Earth itself over the millennia and speculates about future possibilities for evolution and extinction.
A 2019 Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students: Kā12 (National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council).
From the moment life crawled out of the oceans and onto land, to when our primate ancestors climbed down from the trees, the history of Planet Earth is filled with incredible stories. This beautifully illustrated guide explores some of the most exciting and incredible events in evolution, through 13 case studies.
Step back in time and discover a world where whales once walked, crocodiles were warm-blooded, and snakes had legs! Meet terrifying giant birds, and tiny elephants living on islands in thisā¦
My son has loved every volume of the Science Comics series so far, and Crows was no exception ā as soon as he finished, he had me read it with him. Full of fascinating information thatās digestible for kids but meaty enough for adults, this volume is headlined by a crafty crow and curious dog that make learning all the more fun.
Every volume of Science Comics offers a complete introduction to a particular topic - dinosaurs, coral reefs, the solar system, volcanoes, bats, flying machines, and more. These gorgeously illustrated graphic novels offer wildly entertaining views of their subjects. Whether you're a fourth grader doing a natural science unit at school or a thirty year old with a secret passion for airplanes, these books are for you!
In Science Comics: Crows you'll learn all about the avian Einsteins that are as smart as some primates and can perform some of the same cognitive feats as human children! Did you know thatā¦
Nature has been my grounding force from the time I could climb the elm tree in my Kentucky backyard. Snuggling down in the branches, listening to the leaves and birds was my happy place. Eventually, nature became a defining element in my work. It started with an Information & Education job at the Washington State Wildlife department and expanded from there to influence my career as a writer. I take great joy in writing about the natural world, my most patient teacher and oldest friend.
Illuminating text describes 43 endangered species from around the world. The book is organized by habitatāocean, forest, mountains, grasslands, arctic tundraāand relates the stories of a wide range of animals, from recycling beetles, to desert fish, to the odd axolotl and wide-ranging wandering albatross. Youāll also find a map detailing where each species lives, and ideas on how you might aid in their conservation.
What do the ingenious sea otter, the incredible shrinking reindeer, the tree-dwelling baby dragon or the Dodo's long-lost cousin have in common?
They are all at risk of disappearing from our world forever. This book is all about the amazing creatures that are now endangered around the globe, from oceans and forests to mountains and snow. Filled with beautiful beasts, glorious illustrations, facts and tales, it will make you fall in love with the animal kingdom - and maybe even try to save it.
As a writer, Iām especially fascinated by plants and animals that no one loves. My books are intended to get kids excited about science and help them appreciate the wonders of the natural world. Many years of fieldwork, leading children on nature walks, have given me firsthand experience in introducing students to the terrors and joys of nature. I especially enjoy the beauties of the night, from fireflies to coyote howls to star-gazing!
I admit it, Iām a sucker for glow-in-the-dark books. I still have the glow-in-the-dark stars on the bedroom ceiling from when my own kids were small. This book has gorgeous glow-in-the-dark illustrations (it works best if you happen to have a blacklight bulb) but also has a lot of great information, facts, and thought-provoking questions about the lifestyles of nocturnal wildlife of all shapes and sizes. A fun reading experience for parents as well as kids!
What creatures hide in the darkness under the starry sky? Easy: they are nocturnal animals, and now you can spot them too! Once the lights go out, the fun begins as glow-in-the-dark images appear on highly-illustrated, fact-filled pages. Travel between different habitats, from fields to deserts to mountains and more, as you learn all about different animals and what makes them nocturnal in this beautiful nonfiction picture book.
I have been passionate about animals all my life. I was raised on and currently help operate the family farm near Petersburg, Tennessee. I have a doctorate in animal science and joined Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) as a Professor of Animal Science and Department Chair on August 1, 2007, after retiring from a 25-year career with the Extension Service (University of Tennessee and University of Kentucky). I enjoy participating in community activities such as the Petersburg Community Cultural Coalition, Petersburg Lionās Club, and serving as President of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture Retireeās Association. I have written two books, Cane Creek Days and Princess of Horses.
Dr. Grandinās personal struggle with autism and her love of animals have combined to revolutionize our current understanding of animal behavior and human interactions with our animal partners.
Her body of work is not only impressive but has informed both my career as an animal scientist and my fiction. This book is exemplary of her profound impact on people who love animals.
āInspiringā¦Crammed with facts and anecdotes about Temple Grandinās favorite subject: the senses, brains, emotions, and amazing talents of animals.āāNew York Times Book Review
A groundbreaking look at the emotional lives of animals, from beloved animal scientist Temple Grandin.
Why would a cow lick a tractor? Why are collies getting dumber? Why do dolphins sometimes kill for fun? How can a parrot learn to spell? How did wolves teach man to evolve? Temple Grandin draws upon a long, distinguished career as an animal scientist and her own experiences with autism to deliver an extraordinary message about how animalsā¦
As
much as I love learning about things, I sometimes struggle when reading
nonfiction. The topic might be fascinating to me, but dense blocks of text (or
audio) make me tune out. That never happened with this book, though! Short,
snappy chapters written in a conversational voice made me want to keep reading.
I loved the āInterludesā (side-note chapters) and the Q&A chapters with
various experts in the field. Jules Zuckerbergās illustrations and comic strips
add humor to the text, and Eliot Schreferās well-researched book also includes
extensive back matter with book lists, glossary, and notes.
For me, this book
was a constant source of learning and wonder. I also felt a lot of frustration,
though, because some of the information shared within Queer Ducks has
been buried/ignored by the majority of the scientific community for decades,
maybe even centuries.
Iām so grateful to Eliot Schrefer and Jules Zuckerberg
forā¦
NPR's "All Things Considered," calls Queer Ducks "teenager-friendly. It's a Printz Honor young adult book filled with comics and humor and accessible science, and it's filled with research on the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world."
This groundbreaking illustrated YA nonfiction title from two-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Eliot Schrefer is a well-researched and teen-friendly exploration of the gamut of queer behaviors observed in animals.
A quiet revolution has been underway in recent years, with study after study revealing substantial same-sex sexual behavior in animals. Join celebrated author Eliot Schrefer on anā¦
Writing for children is the most gloriously tricky thing in the world, and I love doing it. With fiction, am I telling a story worth telling to someone whoās new to the planet and new to our way of life? With non-fiction, am I distilling complexity into a shape they can grasp quickly? Am I showing them how wonderful and strange our world is, and can I make āem laugh while learning? Iāve written 18 books for kids, many commissioned by Think Equal for their global SEL program and used in the national curricula of 20 countries.
A graphic novel about three intrepid, ground-breaking scientists, working far from home.
Although aimed at kids of 12+ this is well worth reading with younger kids, too. Wicksā cartooning is clear and vivid, and Ottaviani captures the distinct voices of his three subjects beautifully. Wicks keeps the page grids simple and uses colour effectively to tell the reader which of her subjects theyāre āhearingā on the page.
Itās easy to follow and the ethological work of Goodall, Fossey, and Galdikas truly benefits from comicsā ability to depict sequential movement and, in this case, behaviour.
Bonus: Wicks worked on a book about Mary Anning, too (text by Sarah Glen Marsh)!
Jim Ottaviani returns with an action-packed account of the three greatest primatologists of the last century: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas. These three groundbreaking researchers were all students of the great Louis Leakey, and each made profound contributions to primatology - and to our own understanding of ourselves. Tackling Goodall, Fossey, and Galdikas in turn, and covering the highlights of their respective careers, Primates is an entertaining and informative look at primatology and at the lives of three of the most remarkable women scientists of the twentieth century, with charming illustrations by Maris Wicks.
As a kid, I never stopped asking āBut why?ā Learning the answers always led me to new questions, and Iāve been on a life-long journey to understand the world, and how everything works. I wanted to give the joy of discovery, and the empowerment of understanding, to a new generation of readers. The amazing story of evolution seemed to be a great starting point. I wrote the book I wanted to read to my own daughter, full of adventures and grown-up science, told in a way kids can understand.
I wish Iād had this richly illustrated book as a curious 10-year-old who wanted to learn about evolution in a very fact-based way. Packed with explanations, illustrations, lists, and definitions, Amazing Evolution helps kids self-educate around how and why evolution happened ā from the origin of life in the sea to the first creatures to survive on land, through to dinosaurs and convergent evolution in mammals. A great book for an older primary kid who wants to understand how all life is related, but wants to find it out themselves. And the āFact Fileā at the end of the book is jam-packed with the kind of amazing information that will make readers want to say āDid you knowā¦?ā to everyone they see!
Evolution can be a difficult idea to wrap our brains around: it deals with random, unlikely events, combined with vast lengths of time too enormous to comprehend. But the evidence is all around usāin the fossils of long-dead creatures, and in our genes and the relationships between all living beings.
Amazing Evolution shines a light on this incredible process, from the beginnings of life around 3.8 billion years ago, to the millions of different species alive today, including the moon-walking, talking apes with super-powerful brainsāhuman beings!
Filled with clear explanations, beautiful illustrations and fascinating facts about the planetās strangest andā¦
My passion is writing about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, rather than famous people or people with some unusual skill, like being a math genius or something. This passion led me to Anna Merzās story and my growing appreciation of the power of the animal/human connection and how much communication can take place without language.
Okay, I confess this is the same story as the recommendation above, The Elephants Come Home, but this is written by the actual guy, Lawrence Anthony, who undertook this effort.
Also, instead of a picture book, it is a 380-page tale told by the person who lived it. If you love The Elephants Come Home, youāll want to read Elephant Whisperer as well.
I found myself exclaiming again and again over the stories that Anthony tells of life on the sanctuary.
When South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony was asked to accept a herd of "rogue" wild elephants on his Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand, his common sense told him to refuse. But he was the herd's last chance of survival: they would be killed if he wouldn't take them. In order to save their lives, Anthony took them in. In the years that followed he became a part of their family. And as he battled to create a bond with the elephants, he came to realize that they had a great deal to teach him about life, loyalty, and freedom.ā¦
