Animal Science

When a storm-tossed river sweeps Ripple away from the park he’s always known, he commits himself to the life of a peaceful loner. Still, as his new island home starts to become a sanctuary for other rogues, he can’t help but feel responsible for their safety, and for the community—and Clan—they are beginning to build. But when an old friend from the park resurfaces with terrible news just as the forest cats’ fights begin to escalate into bloodshed, the cat now known as Riverstar will have to decide which home he is truly committed to protecting: his new Clan or his old family.

Richard Louv's landmark book, Last Child in the Woods, inspired an international movement to connect children and nature. Now Louv redefines the future of human-animal coexistence. Our Wild Calling explores these powerful and mysterious bonds and how they can transform our mental, physical, and spiritual lives, serve as an antidote to the growing epidemic of human loneliness, and help us tap into the empathy required to preserve life on Earth.

Rachel's got some pretty strange stuff happening. She can't control her morphing. One minute, she's doing homework. The next, she's morphing a full-grown crocodile, and - without returning to human form - she becomes an elephant. That's when the floor gives way and Rachel finds herself looking up at what used to be the kitchen ceiling. What's going on? No one's sure, but Rachel and the other Animorphs have to figure it out - quickly. Because if someone sees Rachel's out-of-control morphing, the other Animorphs are in for some serious trouble.

Sue Tidwell lived in awe of Africa’s extraordinary wildlife. After years spent appreciating the animals in her imagination, the tenderhearted American hated the idea of joining her husband on a big game hunting safari. And getting attacked by blood-sucking tsetse flies the moment she stepped off the plane gave no hint of the mind-blowing change of perspective in her future. With her initial animosity turning into curiosity as they breathlessly tracked dangerous beasts, Sue formed a surprising bond with their young female government-assigned game scout.

Blending fiction with fact, 50 Dinosaur Tales imagines the way 50 newly described dinosaurs from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous lived in their natural habitats. Also included is a list of fun facts for each dinosaur story and facts about 108 additional dinosaurs.

Rabies enjoys a fearsome and lurid reputation. Throughout the decades of spiraling growth that defined New York City from the 1840s to the 1910s, the bone-chilling cry of "Mad dog!" possessed the power to upend the ordinary routines and rhythms of urban life. In Mad Dogs and Other New Yorkers, Jessica Wang examines the history of this rare but dreaded affliction during a time of rapid urbanization.

American Sniper meets Jaws in this gripping true account of the deadliest animal of all time, the Champawat Tiger - responsible for killing more than 400 humans in Northern India and Nepal in the first decade of the 20th century - and the legendary hunter who finally brought it down.

We could all learn a thing or two about living in balance from our friends in the plant and animal kingdom. Take, for example, the jellyfish, one of the most energy-efficient animals in the world, moving through the ocean by contracting and relaxing, with frequent breaks in between. Or the avocado tree, which can credit its existence to a mutually beneficial relationship with the prehistoric sloth, followed by some hungry, hungry humans and the advent of agriculture.

Mortimer T. Flightdeck, Ratonaut and Future YouTube Sensation, has big plans for ratkind. A spot on the International Space Station (ISS) has opened up, and Mortimer, is not about to miss his chance to become an intergalactic space rat. And that's just the first step in his master plan to prove that rats are much better suited than humans for a future mission to Mars. He packs his camera and prepares to take to the internet with his evidence of rat superiority.

“How we interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets, and naturalists for ages,” writes Susan Orlean. Since the age of six, when Orlean wrote and illustrated a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon, she’s been drawn to stories about how we live with animals, and how they abide by us. Now, in On Animals, she examines animal-human relationships through the compelling tales she has written over the course of her celebrated career.

In this Super Edition, devoted RiverClan warrior Leopardfur discovers just how far she will go to protect her clan. Since her kithood, Leopardfur has known that she would one day save RiverClan from destruction. The ambitious ThunderClan deputy Tigerclaw believes he can help her fulfill her destiny, but as Leopardstar rises to follow in Crookedstar’s paw steps, she must decide what kind of leader she will be - one who maintains the peace among the clans, or one who is willing to sacrifice anything for the good of her own.

First published in 1908, The Wind in the Willows belongs to a golden age of children’s book. These charming tales of the riverbank, describing the adventures of Ratty, Mole, Badger, and their irrepressible but conceited friend, Toad of Toad Hall, have become classics loved as much, perhaps, by adults as by children.

There's a new resident at the Magical Animal Adoption Agency-but this one hasn't hatched yet! Mr. Jams brought home an enchanted egg from his last journey, and Clover can't wait to find out what kind of creature the polka-dotted shell contains.

In Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, the time has arrived for Max and her winged "Flock" to face their ultimate enemy and discover their original purpose: to defeat the takeover of "Re-evolution", a sinister experiment to re-engineer a select population into a scientifically superior master race...and to terminate the rest. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel have always worked together to defeat the forces working against them—but can they save the world when they are torn apart, living in hiding and captivity, halfway across the globe from one another?

In this book, Galaxy tells the poignant story of his 13-year relationship with a petite gray-and-white short-haired cat named Benny, and gives singular advice for living with, caring for, and loving the feline in your home. When Benny arrived in his life, Galaxy was a down-and-out rock musician with not too much more going on than a part-time job at an animal shelter and a drug problem. Benny's previous owner brought the cat to the shelter in a cardboard box to give him up.

When the platypus was first discovered by Europeans in the 1800s, it was well-known by Australian Aborigines - but no one knew how to classify it. It lived in the water and laid eggs like a reptile, had a bill like a bird, and was furry and warm-blooded like a mammal. Scientists had to come up with a way to solve this and many other mysteries of nature. Alaskan Polar bears sleeping in hidden underground dens caused problems for researchers wanting to drill for oil without disturbing the bears. Find out how scientists used infrared imaging to see the caves beneath the snow.

The last time Rachel and her friends entered the giant Yeerk pool beneath their town things went very bad. This time they plan to be careful, and sneak in as roaches, just to spy. Once they're inside, though, the team gets caught. But right as things are looking their most dire, everything stops. Everything. Then Rachel and the Animorphs hear a voice. It belongs to a very old, very powerful being, and it says it can save them. But if it does, the Earth will be defenseless.

Amber Blackwood, Edgehill’s secret resident witch, recently found her parents’ grimoires and the powerful time spells within. The malevolent Penhallow clan has been ruthlessly seeking the grimoires so they can travel back in time to undo their clan’s cursed magic. Because the Penhallows will stop at nothing, Amber must find an impregnable hiding place for the grimoires, though she has no clue where to start looking. When her cousin Edgar suggests the game of Magic Cache, a magic-infused version of geocaching played by witches all over the world, Amber agrees to learn how to play.

Describes how animals use pattern adaptations to help survive in their environments. Animals shown include a zebra, a Siberian tiger, a ladybug, a leopard, a diamondback rattlesnake, a pineapple fish, a peacock, a blue-ringed octopus, and a painted turtle.

Who takes dust baths? Who wallows in the mud? Who basks in the sun? Try to pick up on the unique habits of different animals.