Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Nature

The insect world is a fascinating place. You may not think so. You may think insects are gross. Or scary. Or dangerous. But there’s so much more to insects than what meets the eye. Told through hilarious prose and packed full of jaw-dropping facts, Brenna Maloney’s first-person narrative presents the big picture on bugs. Insects play a critical role on our planet—as pollinators, garbage collectors, artistic muses, research partners, and even as “dinner.”

Could griffins have been real? When Adrienne Mayor carefully read the ancient Greek and Roman descriptions, this mythic hybrid of a lion and an eagle sounded like something people had actually seen. What could explain that evidence? After a decade of hunting through myths, poring over old maps, and tracing the discoveries of modern dinosaur hunters, she found the answer: awesome dinosaur fossils observed by ancient gold hunters in the Gobi desert.

These are the adventures and discoveries of the scientists who revealed the secrets of the Komodo dragon. This strange creature inspired myth and legend, luring brave souls into the forests of Indonesia to see if the tales were true. In the end, it attracted scientists, who unraveled the mysteries of how such a remarkable creature could exist, how it uses the deadly germs in its saliva to its advantage, and how those microbes may lead to cures for stubborn diseases.

Freddy the Pig needs a break. As editor of the Bean Home News and president of the First Animal Bank, he has no time for himself anymore. So when rich Mr. Camphor wants a summer caretaker, Freddy trots right over to apply. Soon, he's sunning himself on a houseboat, writing a bit of poetry, and even dabbling with his paint set. But Freddy's life of ease quickly comes to an end.

Sometimes we throw things away when we no longer want or need them. But what if they’re still good? A man named Nelson Molina wondered about this and did something about it. As a sanitation worker in New York City, Nelson saved more than forty-five thousand items from his garbage truck, including toys, musical instruments, and thingamajigs. He gave them new life and shared them with others at the Treasures in the Trash Museum.

The globetrotting naturalists of the 18th century were the geeks of their day: innovators and explorers who lived at the intersection of science and commerce. Foremost among them was Carl Linnaeus, a radical thinker who revolutionized biology. In What Linnaeus Saw, Karen Magnuson Beil chronicles Linnaeus's life and career in readable, relatable prose.

In 2014, Flint, Michigan, was a cash-strapped city that had been built up, then abandoned by General Motors. As part of a plan to save money, government officials decided that Flint would temporarily switch its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Within months, many residents broke out in rashes.

Newbery Medalist Tae Keller’s debut picture book is a resplendent account of humankind’s relationship with our most precious resource: the sun. From the first human settlements to today’s modern metropolises, we have always relied on the sun for light, energy, and sustenance. We Carry the Sun traces the history of solar power from ancient south-facing villages to the Industrial Age and modern innovators; and from solar-powered steam engines to silicon solar panels.

A tree suns and sways in the forest. She is a place to grow, to rest, and to shelter. But what happens when a tree falls? The answer will make your heart soar. In this lyrical book, explore how the extraordinary nurse log provides a nutrient-rich space for new seedlings, shelters small animals, hosts different plant species, and, most profoundly, nurtures a new tree in the process, renewing the cycle of life.

I bet you've seen a furry gray animal scurrying across the highway late at night—you know, the one with the pink snout and long tail? That's an opossum, and it is a marsupial. Did you know that it is related to all sorts of different animals, including the kangaroo and the Tasmanian devil? Welcome to the wild, wonderful world of marsupials, a group of mammals found around the globe, though mostly in Australia and Southern Asia.

Meg Lowman was always fascinated by the natural world above her head—the colors, the branches, and, most of all, the leaves and mysterious organisms living there. Meg set out to climb up and investigate the rain forest tree canopies—and to be the first scientist to do so. But she encountered challenge after challenge. Male teachers would not let her into their classrooms, the high canopy was difficult to get to, and worst of all, people were logging and clearing the forests. Meg never gave up or gave in.

In the Black Hills of South Dakota lie eleven thousand acres of breathtaking rangeland and rimrock, canyons and pastures - home to more than three hundred wild mustangs. This preserve was the vision of one man - Dayton Hyde - who conceived of a place where wild horses could live and die in freedom and dignity.

There is no animal in the world that can run faster than a cheetah. Yet, no matter how quickly they run from trouble, cheetahs may not roam the African plains forever. They have lost much of their habitat to farmland, and some are killed by farmers who worry about their livestock. But cheetahs have important friends - like Dr. Laurie Marker and the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. Rosanna Hansen - who spent time working at the CCF - shares the fascinating story of cheetah preservation in this book young listeners will find irresistible.

Travel north - beyond the Arctic Circle - to Barrow, Alaska, and meet the proud Iñupiaq people. For thousands of years they have hunted whales on the open sea, but now global climate change threatens their way of life. The whale hunt is about to begin, and you're invited to come along! Just as soon as the ice covering the ocean cracks apart, the whales will appear. Set out with the Iñupiaqs in their bearded-sealskin boats to hunt bowhead whales, and witness a tradition that has been followed for 3,000 years.

Three species of bear inhabit North America: the grizzly, the polar bear, and the black bear. But the American black bear is truly North America's bear, found only in North America. Black bears range from Canada to Mexico, from New England to California.

This audiobook reveals the secret lives of salt marshes. Along the coasts, where ocean tides mix salt water with fresh water, nature has created salt marshes - soggy places full of natural wonders. For years, salt marshes were maligned, drained, or filled in. Now salt marshes are valued as the home of fascinating wildlife, including more than twenty different species of birds. Ornithologist and photographer Doug Wechsler takes the reader on a down-and-muddy tour of the year-round activity in these wonderlands.

Critically acclaimed children’s author Jonah Winter reimagines a true story from 1987. The small Long Island town of Islip has a big problem - 3,168 tons of garbage and no place to put it! So workers pile the smelly refuse on a large barge, hire a tug boat, and send the stuff south to find a final resting place. But as the barge travels from North Carolina to New Orleans and from Mexico to Belize - nobody wants Islip’s rotting mountain of garbage.

Over the canyon, the sun scalds the air and bakes the desert mud to stone. But under the shade of the canyon hides another world, where bighorn sheep bound from rock to rock on the hillside, roadrunners make their nests in sturdy cacti, and banded geckos tuck themselves into the shelter of the sand. Discover the wonders concealed in the curves of the canyon and all the secret life hidden in its arms.

Over the swamp, the barred owl hoots, and the great egret swoops down on snowy wings. The slow mazes of waterways are quiet with the shush of reeds and grasses. But under the swamp’s soft shadows, there’s a whole hidden world of panthers and orchids, red-bellied turtles and raccoons, lurking alligators and singing frogs. Discover the magical reaches of the Everglades and all the fascinating creatures living just out of sight in its branches and depths—over and under the wetland.

In Sea Wolves: Keepers of the Rainforest, lyrical text creates a captivating portrait of the remarkable sea wolf.