With three hearts and blue blood, its gelatinous body unconstrained by jointed limbs or gravity, the octopus seems to be an alien, an inhabitant of another world. It’s baggy, boneless body sprouts eight arms covered with thousands of suckers—suckers that can taste as well as feel. The octopus also has the powers of a superhero: it can shape-shift, change color, squirt ink, pour itself through the tiniest of openings, or jet away through the sea faster than a swimmer can follow.
In this joyous collection of poems, Katie and her little brother, Olly, are ready for whatever each day offers, sunshine, wind, rain, mist, or snow. From the happy sights and sounds of the beach to the quiet beauty of leaves in a rain puddle, this exuberant volume captures to perfection the everyday wonder of being out and about.
When the Big Blue Thing, a camper van to us humans, arrives on Howling Hill, the local wildlife all agree it has to go. First the wolves try to scare it away, then the bears, boars, and foxes have a turn. Finally the wise owls suggest sending the smallest critters — the insects — to do the job. A cloud of bees, flies, and dragonflies make sure that the Big Blue Thing runs away at top speed!
This beautiful bedtime poem, written by acclaimed Inuit throat singer Celina Kalluk, describes the gifts given to a newborn baby by all the animals of the Arctic.
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain describes in rhythmic, read-along verse how a resourceful man finds water for his thirsty herd and ends the drought afflicting the plain.
Introduces the desert fox, or fennec, by following a mother and her young at rest and at play, hunting and eating, in their harsh yet beautiful desert world.
An ordinary Danish Christmas turns extraordinary when a family overlooks an important folkloric tradition. Christmas has come, and with it a sparkling white winterfrost over the countryside. But twelve-year-old Bettina’s parents have been called away unexpectedly, leaving her in charge of the house, the farm, and baby Pia. In all the confusion, Bettina’s family neglects to set out the traditional bowl of Christmas rice pudding for the tiny nisse who are rumored to look after the family and their livestock. No one besides her grandfather ever believed the nisse were real, so what harm could there be in forgetting this silly custom? But when baby Pia disappears during a nap, the magic of the nisse makes itself known. To find her sister and set things right, Bettina must venture into the miniature world of these usually helpful, but sometimes mischievous folk. A delightful winter adventure for lovers of the legendary and miraculous.
How to Save a Species brings readers as close as they may ever get to some of the most endangered animals and plants on earth. Highlighting the efforts of scientists, communities, and campaign groups, it includes the astonishing success stories of species that have been saved from the edge of extinction, as well as urgent cases in need of immediate action.
Just what exactly is the “thing”? It is green—great and gorgeous green, dark and dangerous green, real mean green. Both a riddle and an ode to the earth, this picture book arrives just in time for Earth Day. Readers will revisit the world after the riddle’s reveal to find the many green things hidden in each piece of art.
Visit the oasis – a green jewel in the Sahara – and see the birds, bugs, animals and people who both survive and thrive there.