Animal Science

In Higher Animals, New Yorker science writer Michael Specter explores how MRNA vaccines have transformed the scientific landscape and helped spark a biotechnology revolution. Biology is information, and increasingly, that means digital information. We need to think of biology the way we think about computer code, only instead of bits and bytes, we use the genetic letters: ACGT. The widely-used mRNA COVID vaccines offer the most immediate example of this groundbreaking moment in medical and scientific history.

In 2016, Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world: Hatred and misinformation became a daily presence on social media, and the country felt more divisive than ever. In search of peace, Tan turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds visiting her yard. But what began as an attempt to find solace turned into something far greater—an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired.

The Earth is being invaded, but no one knows about it. When Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, and Marco stumble upon a downed alien spaceship and its dying pilot, they're given an incredible power - they can transform into any animal they touch. With it, they become Animorphs, the unlikely champions in a secret war for the planet. And the enemies they're fighting could be anyone...even the people closest to them.

Book two left off with Gregor reading the Prophecy of Blood: a prophecy that calls for Gregor and Boots to return to the Underland to help ward off a plague. But this time, Gregor's mother refuses to let Gregor return to the Underland...until the rat Ripred assures the family that Gregor and Boots are needed only for a short meeting, which the crawlers will attend only if their "princess" Boots is present.

Now settled into the sleepy Yorkshire village of Darrowby, and married to Helen the farmer’s daughter, James Herriot thinks he’s finally got himself sorted. But life as a vet in the 1930s was never going to be easy. Quite aside from his unpredictable colleagues, brothers Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, he must contend with new-fangled medical techniques, delivering calves after far too much homemade wine, and a grudge-holding dog called Magnus who never forgets.

Yellowkit can't wait to fight for her Clan. But when she earns her warrior name, Yellowfang, she realizes that her true destiny is to become a healer. As a loyal medicine cat, Yellowfang has proven her dedication to ShadowClan—but her dreams are haunted by a dark prophecy that threatens to destroy the Warrior clans forever.

At the legendary fortress of Salamandastron, aging Lord Asheye has a prophecy: a new, young badger lord must take his place. But Lord Asheye does not know who the young warrior is. Meanwhile, unaware of his destiny, the future lord is captured by infamous fox Vizka Longtooth, who intends to lay siege to Redwall Abbey.

Dip below the ocean’s surface and you are soon confronted by forms of life that could not seem more foreign to our own: sea sponges, soft corals, and serpulid worms, whose rooted bodies, intricate geometry, and flower-like appendages are more reminiscent of plant life or even architecture than anything recognizably animal. Yet these creatures are our cousins. As fellow members of the animal kingdom — the Metazoa— they can teach us much about the evolutionary origins of not only our bodies, but also our minds.

The last winged horses are on the brink of extinction. At a sanctuary for threatened creatures, the home of a young dragon rider and his silver dragon, three foals lie curled up in their eggs. The foals are in great danger, and the only cure seems to be the sun-feather of a griffin. But griffins, creatures with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion, are a dragon's fiercest enemy, and they live far across the world in the sweltering jungle. A dangerous and exciting adventure begins....

In this super edition, set during the events of The Broken Code, respected ThunderClan warrior Graystripe seeks a path to the Clan’s future by returning to his past - and the Moonstone in the Clans’ old forest territory. Graystripe served ThunderClan for many moons before retiring to the elders’ den. As Firestar’s most trusted friend and deputy, Graystripe promised that he would never abandon his home. But as tensions strain ThunderClan, Graystripe will need to call on all of his long history, leaving ThunderClan behind in hopes of finding an answer that might save it.

The award-winning creator of popular survival stories turns his attention to his own real life adventures in Minnesota and Alaska as he prepares for the grueling Iditarod sled dog race.

Redwall Abbey, the peaceful home of a community of mice, slumbers in the warmth of a summer afternoon. The mice are preparing for a great Jubilee feast. But Cluny the evil, one-eyed rat warlord is advancing….

Frostpaw was told to trust no cat, but a brutal attack has left her gravely injured, and she’ll need to depend on someone. When help arrives in the form of a young warrior, she convinces him to protect her as she follows StarClan’s cryptic directions toward the roots of RiverClan, where Riverstar has promised she’ll find the answers she’s been so desperately seeking.

Barking Up the Right Tree offers proof that aversive punishment seldom works to eliminate undesirable behavior or to get the dog back on track. Dunbar presents numerous nonaversive yet highly effective solutions for misbehavior and noncompliance—simply by using the words you teach, and without even raising your voice.

We human beings share 98 percent of our genes with chimpanzees. Yet humans are the dominant species on the planet - having founded civilizations and religions, developed intricate and diverse forms of communication, learned science, built cities, and created breathtaking works of art - while chimps remain animals concerned primarily with the basic necessities of survival. What is it about that two percent difference in DNA that has created such a divergence between evolutionary cousins?

This magical adventure collection starring best friends Lily and Jess includes Lucy Longwhiskers Gets Lost, Molly Twinkletail Runs Away, Ellie Featherbill All Alone, Bella Tabbypaw in Trouble and Poppy Muddlepup's Daring Rescue.

Do you know the new rules for profit in today's land and livestock game? Using successful grass farmers as examples, Allan explains how leasing land can add up to profits with lower risk than ownership, and can be a means for young people to get into grassland agriculture today. For more insight and analysis into land-based financial issues such as protecting yourself from falling real estate prices without selling your ranch, order Land, Livestock, & Life: A Grazier's Guide to Finance.

In this Super Edition, set just after the events of A Vision of Shadows, ThunderClan deputy Squirrelflight is caught between her conscience and her Clan. Though all five Clans have settled into equally divided territories around the lake, tensions are rising over the new borders. And when a group of rogue cats move in just beyond Clan boundaries, drawing the Clans’ frustration, Squirrelflight must choose between her duty as ThunderClan’s deputy and her desire to do what’s right.

In 1908, near Folsom, New Mexico, a cowboy discovered the remains of a herd of extinct giant bison. By examining flint points embedded in the bones, archeologists later determined that a band of humans had killed and butchered the animals 12,450 years ago. This discovery vastly expanded America's known human history but also revealed the long-standing danger Homo sapiens presented to the continent's evolutionary richness. Distinguished scholar Dan Flores's ambitious history chronicles the epoch in which humans and animals have coexisted in the "wild new world" of North America.

This is the third and last of Sir David’s great natural history books based on his TV series and completes his survey of the animal world that began with Life on Earth and continues with Living Planet. In Life on Earth, Sir David showed how each group of animals evolved. In Living Planet he looked at the way they have adapted to the whole range of habitats in which they live. Now, in Trials of Life, he completes the story by revealing how animals behave – and why.