Sometimes stories are told so often that people begin believing them even though they are not true. If enough people believe these untrue stories, they are called myths. Do you know what’s true or not? Do porcupines really throw their quills? Can someone be as blind as a bat? Are snakes slimy or do opossums hang by their tails? And just how much wood can a woodchuck chuck? Learn what’s true and what’s not in the latest addition to Mary Holland’s Animal Anatomy and Adaptation series.
Big brothers are amazing! Did you know that big brothers are important in animal families, too? Animal big brothers do many of the same things as kid big brothers. They play with their younger siblings, teach them new things, and help with their care. Sometimes animal big brothers even babysit when their parents leave to hunt for food. Are you a big brother or do you have a big brother?
¿Cómo sería vivir como un dinosaurio? Los jóvenes lectores descubrirán que las vidas de los dinosaurios tenían muchas similitudes con las de los animales en la actualidad: nacían en huevos, corrían, cazaban, se escondían de los depredadores y crecían hasta la adultez. Sin embargo, el mundo en el que vivieron estas criaturas es muy diferente al actual; un gran ejemplo es que cosas sencillas como el pasto todavía no existían. Las palabras fáciles y repetitivas hacen que esta historia sea genial tanto para los lectores principiantes como para los entusiastas de los dinosaurios.
¿Te gustan las búsquedas del tesoro? ¿Cómo sabes si el agua de un arroyo está limpia y saludable? Acompaña a Lucas y a su hermana mientras hacen de científicos en búsqueda de ciertos tipos de insectos de arroyo (macroinvertebrados acuáticos) que necesitan agua limpia y libre de contaminación para sobrevivir. ¿Qué encontrarán al voltear piedras, levantar hojas y buscar entre el lodo? Sigue leyendo para saber si su arroyo recibe una calificación de aprobación.
La mayoría de las personas saben que las secuoyas rojas son árboles muy altos. De hecho, son los árboles más altos del mundo. Lo que muchas personas no saben y nunca podrán ver es que hay otro gran bosque que crece en las alturas de las cubiertas frondosas de las secuoyas rojas. Esta adaptación de La casa construida por Jack explora esta cubierta secreta y oculta que está llena de plantas y animales que la llaman su hogar.
Weather changes daily. Sometimes it can even change from one moment to another—like a sudden storm. Weather affects our daily lives from what we wear to what outdoor activities (or lack thereof) we can do. Learning about weather and how to dress and prepare for it is an important skill to learn. Maybe even more important is the skill of observation. By asking simple questions, children become engaged and can start to observe and make correlations about the weather around them so they will understand how the weather impacts their lives.
Do you like scavenger hunts? How do you tell if creek water is clean and healthy? Join Lucas and his sister as they act like scientists looking for certain kinds of stream bugs (aquatic macroinvertebrates) that need clean, unpolluted water to survive. What will they find as they turn over rocks, pick up leaves and sort through the mud? Read along to find out if their creek gets a passing grade.
When oil spills, workers hurry to clean the land and water. But oil spills can also affect every animal that lives in the area. Who helps these wild animals? On the East Coast, a team from Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research rushes to the scene to save as many as possible. Follow along to learn how these experts capture oiled animals and treat them quickly and safely so that they may be returned to the wild. This illustrated nonfiction is based on the extensive experience of the Oiled Wildlife Response Team at Tri-State.
Mummies can’t talk; but with modern scientific tools, we can still discover what a mummy has to tell us. Read the stories of mummified Egyptian pharaohs and priestesses, baby elephants, pampered pets, and even a prehistoric bison. Uncover clues to centuries-old murder mysteries and human sacrifices, and even find out what a person or animal had for their last meal! Information from real scientists explains how we know what we know about each mummy. So what do these mummies have to say? Lots, it turns out!
Come along on a journey through the aquatic habitat of a forested wetland. Meet birds and bobcats, along with the beavers and beetles that call the soggy forest home. Kevin Kurtz continues his award-winning “A Day In” series, and once again delights readers with a rhythmic, nonfiction look into a typical day for the animals that live in this wet habitat.
Tudley, a pond-living painted turtle, adopts other animals' behaviors--simply because he doesn't know he can't! He flies like a bird, sings like a katydid, hops like a frog, and glows like a firefly. All the while, he uses his special behaviors to help other animals. But will Tudley's new friends help him when he needs help? The "For Creative Minds" education section includes fun facts about painted turtles, rubythroated hummingbirds, fireflies, leopard frogs, and true katydids. It also contains a "Make a Hopping Tudley" craft, a recipe for hummingbird sugar water, a "Creative Sparks" section, and a "Food for Thought" section.
Modeled after The Wizard of Oz, this enchanting story describes a young giraffe who suffers from a fear of heights. On his way to the doctor, he befriends a monkey who is afraid of climbing and a hippo who is a afraid of water. What causes the three new friends to face and overcome their fears? The "For Creative Minds" section includes fun facts and animal adaptation information, as well as a "Match the Feet" game and a mix-and-match activity. Encourages children to overcome their fears and to help friends in trouble.
What do you get when you cross The Little Red Hen with a burro and his friends? Burro's Tortillas! In this humorous Southwestern retelling of a childhood favorite, Burro finds it difficult to get any help from his friends as he diligently works to turn corn into tortillas. Young children will love the repetition; older children will enjoy the book's many puns. In addition to its Southwestern "flavor," the delightful story imparts an accurate picture of the traditional way that tortillas are made. A Spanish/English glossary and a simple recipe for making tortillas are included in the "For Creative Minds" section.
Watch the vulture bask in the morning sun, the roadrunner kick up a cloud of dust, the javelina wallow, and the bobcat give her cub a licking with a rough tongue in Desert Baths. As the sun travels across the sky, learn how twelve different desert animals face the difficulties of staying clean in a dry and parched land. Explore the desert habitat through its animals and their habits of hygiene. Told in lyrical prose, this story is a celebration of the desert lands of the American Southwest.
This arctic adaptation of "This is the House that Jack Built" follows polar bears, walruses, seals, narwhals and beluga whales as they chase each other around "the ice that floats in the Arctic waters." Not only is the rhythmic, cumulative prose good for early readers; it is a pure delight to read aloud. The "For Creative Minds" section helps children learn how these animals live in the cold, icy arctic region.
Nani has always dreamed of being a princess. When a real Hawaiian princess comes to her hometown of Hilo, Nani dresses in her best clothes. But as she watches Princess Luka, who has come to save the town from a volcanic lava flow, Nani learns that there is more to being a princess than fine clothes. This incredible story of kindness and generosity is based on the historical events of the 1880-1881 eruption of Mauna Loa on the Island of Hawaii and the real-life Princess Luka.
Even kids can get involved in science! Ecologist Dr. Neeti Bathala and Jennifer Keats Curtis collaborate to bring us the story of these adventurous citizen scientists. Leena and her mom volunteer each summer to count the horseshoe crabs that visit their beach. With their dog Bobie at their sides, the duo spends a night on the shore surveying horseshoe crabs who have come to mate and lay eggs. Readers will learn valuable facts about these ancient animals and how they can get involved in the effort to conserve horseshoe crabs.
Long ago, the Old Ones were bad. They drank all the water, ate all the pine nuts, and left nothing for the other creatures. Sinawav the coyote punished them by turning them into rocky hoodoos. Now when children misbehave, their Paiute elders remind them that they too could be turned into stone columns! Vivian has heard the stories, but this year as she and her grandmother climb the mesa to pick pine nuts, Vivian has something more important on her mind: basketball tryouts. When Vivian is disrespectful to the trees and the land, her grandmother must remind Vivian of the legend of the hoodoos and how nature has made it possible for her people to live.
When a young girl finds a sparkly rock buried in the dirt and discovers that it cleans to a beautiful quartz crystal, she is fascinated and becomes Julie the Rockhound. Join Julie as her dad shows her how to dig for minerals and explains the wonders of crystal formation. Combining clever wordplay with earth science, young readers learn about Earth's most abundant mineral "treasure."
As the sun begins to set, arctic animals scurry to prepare for six months of darkness and cold. Tuktuk the collared lemming is almost ready for the long winter night all he needs is warm fur to line his nest. When one furry kamik (boot) slips off an Inuit drivers sled, Tuktuk is in luck! But as he drags it home, Putak the polar bear, Aput the arctic fox, and Masak the caribou eye this little lemmings prize and want it for their own. Can Tuktuk outwit the other animals and convince them that one furry kamik is no good for anyone bigger than a lemming?
Alexa and the other children at her escuela in Costa Rica have a special project: they are raising American Crocodiles. She names her croc Jefe, which means "boss," because he seems to be in charge of all the other babies. Alexa brings him chicken and frogs to eat, and writes about his progress in her diary. Soon, her little hatchling is as big as a loaf of bread. He has grown into a juvenile and it is time for Alexa to say goodbye and for Jefe to return to the wild.
While Ming plays outside one summer day, the smell of delicious food fills the air. It is coming from greedy Fu Wangs house, What is he up to? wonders Ming. To his alarm, Fu Wang demands that all the neighbors pay him for the pleasant smells. When the neighbors refuse, the case goes to court. How will the judge rule in this unusual case? Can Fu Wang make money from the neighbors sense of smell? A wise judge makes use of another sense to close the case with clever and convincing logic.
Dena loves using magnets to perform magic tricks for the kids at the pool. When Enrique arrives in town, he doesnt like that Dena is fooling the others. He gives her a century-old treasure map and Dena uses her compass and tools to plot the location of the treasure. To her surprise, the treasure is not where it should be! What could cause her compass to lead her off course? When she discovers the answer, will Dena keep fooling the other kids with magic tricks or will she help them learn about magnetism and the earths shifting magnetic poles?
Like humans, animals can get sick or hurt. People visit doctors. Pets see veterinarians. What happens to wild animals when they are injured, become ill, or are orphaned? Often, wildlife rehabilitators are called to their rescue. This photographic journal takes readers behind the scenes at four different wildlife rehabilitation centers. Fall in love with these backyard animals as they are nursed back to health and released back to the wild when possible. This is the first of a photographic series introducing the different ways and the many people who care for a wide variety of animals.
In this adaptation of The Emperors New Clothes, Mayor Peacock declares he will hire a tornado tamer to protect the town. After a long search, Travis arrives to fill the position and this trickster weasel has a plan. He will build a very special, transparent cover to protect the town. Travis magical cover is so transparent that only those smart enough and special enough can even see it. Mouse is doubtful, but his questions are brushed off. Months later, the cover has been hung and Travis has been paid a hefty sum, but a tornado is in the distance and the town is in its path. Will the magic cover protect the town?
