Nature Nonfiction

Learn what bird has the ability to sleep while flying through the sky–the albatross! With a wingspan of 10 feet, this sea bird glides over the warm Southern waters looking for squid and fish to eat! They spend most of their time flying except when eating or feeding babies. Parent duty is shared by these loyal birds who stay with their mate for life. Guess where the albatross flies to lay its egg?

Have you ever seen a coyote? Coyotes live across North America and have earned quite the reputation as pests. Many people have begun to trap and kill them in order to protect their livestock—but they are fascinating animals with long history and event part of folklore. Learn about the coyote and their special behaviors and abilities!

The height of Mount Everest was first measured in 1850, but the closest any Westerner got to Everest during the next 71 years, until 1921, was 40 miles. The Hunt for Mount Everest tells the story of the 71-year quest to find the world's highest mountain. It's a tale of high drama, of larger-than-life characters - George Everest, Francis Younghusband, George Mallory, Lord Curzon, Edward Whymper - and a few quiet heroes: Alexander Kellas, the 13th Dalai Lama, Charles Bell.

Did you know food scraps you throw away help plants and vegetables grow? Scavengers, animals who eat our food scraps, and decomposers: bacteria, fungi, and insects break the food down into soil. They eat some and put the rest into the soil we use for planting and gardening. Can you guess which animals and bugs make the best decomposers? What are scientists learning about decomposers?

What makes fish great swimmers–and how do they breathe underwater? Different animals use their body in different ways to take in air, food, and water. Learn how fish use gills to take in oxygen from water, much like humans use lungs to breathe in oxygen from the air. Whales, dolphins and sea turtles come up for breath–are they fish? In ocean life, guess which fish have gills and which are not fish!

Did you know a flounder, a type of fish, develops from an egg to a full-grown adult in 2 years? Take a journey through deep waters to see how flounder change and grow to be as much as one foot long.

Dogs are amazing creatures with amazing bodies! Discover how fur protects their delicate skin, and which body parts gives them balance. Did you know dogs can wiggle their ears in many directions? Learn more facts about dogs and how their unique anatomy is different from other animals.

From mucking out stables, grooming, feeding, and even visits to the dentist, a lot goes into taking care of a horse.

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.

Would you believe it if I told you that every bird you see - even the smallest hummingbird - is a dinosaur? Well, that’s what many scientists now believe! Follow along as scientists examine ancient fossils and pose new theories on how prehistoric dinosaurs evolved into today’s modern birds. Packed with exciting stories of unearthing ancient fossils and tales of what early feathered dinosaurs might have looked like, this book will have imaginations running wild. From the very first birds, with only tiny dino-fuzz covering their bodies, to the mystery of how dinosaurs finally took to the air, listeners will explore the startling connection between the birds they encounter every day and their very distant relatives.

When Jennifer Doudna was a sixth grader in Hilo, Hawaii, she came home from school one afternoon and found a book on her bed. It was The Double Helix, James Watson’s account of how he and Francis Crick had discovered the structure of DNA, the spiral-staircase molecule that carries the genetic instruction code for all forms of life. This book guided Jennifer Doudna to focus her studies not on DNA, but on what seemed to take a backseat in biochemistry: figuring out the structure of RNA, a closely related molecule that enables the genetic instructions coded in DNA to express themselves.

This dog care and training guide for beginners will show you the basics of handling your puppy the pack-leader´s way: From setting up the training area and getting the equipment and supplies you will need, to claiming your role as pack leader and conditioning him to obey your basic commands.

Transform the love you have for horses into a deep and lasting bond that is forged from optimal care for your horse’s health, a knowledge of the equine mind, and key strategies for communicating with your horse. Finally! Your lifelong dream has become a reality—you are about to own your very first horse. If you are a horse lover, it is very difficult to describe the unique sense of freedom and joy that arises every time you go horse riding.

Take flight and discover the corvid family of birds that boasts an intelligence that is comparable to the human brain. Ravens' anatomy, like humans, have big brains that makes them great problem-solvers in finding creative ways to survive as scavengers. What other birds are covids? Learn about the theory of convergent evolution and how it applies to humans and ravens' brains!

Meet Marley, a yellow furball of a puppy who quickly grows into a large, rowdy Labrador retriever. With an appetite for nearly anything he can get his mouth around, including couches and fine jewelry, Marley is always getting into trouble. Some may say he's the world's worst dog.

Leatherback sea turtles face one of their lives’ biggest challenges as soon as they’re hatched. Crawling out of their eggs on the sandy shore, they hurry to the sea in a race to escape those who see them as a tasty meal. If they survive and thrive, they can grow longer than an adult male is tall and weigh as much as a small car!

Who is the first to show up to a forest fire? It's not firefighters—it's the Charcoal beetles! Looking for a place to lay their eggs, they search for the hottest parts of the fire in order to use the burnt trees. Learn how these beetles can sense fires and why fires are their ideal breeding grounds. Find out why scientists want to study these unusual bugs in order to help society!

The Newbery Honor-winning author of Hatchet and Dogsong shares surprising true stories about his relationship with animals, highlighting their compassion, intellect, intuition, and sense of adventure. Gary Paulsen is an adventurer who competed in two Iditarods, survived the Minnesota wilderness, and climbed the Bighorns. None of this would have been possible without his truest companions: his animals.

Lizzie and Charles Peterson love puppies. Even though they finally have their very own puppy, Buddy, Lizzie still can't get enough time with dogs. She helps her Aunt Amanda at her doggie day care center as often as she can. At the doggie day care, Lizzie meets a pesky but lovable pug named Pugsley. Pugsley is adorable, but he didn't earn the nickname Mr. Pest for nothing and his owners decide he's too much of a handful to keep!

Few activities grip our attention more than animal watching. Dolphins and seals bring us much joy, and sharks and alligators hold us in awe. But animals can also prompt a variety of fascinating questions. Why do dolphins sometimes surf? How well can birds of prey actually see? Why do giant pandas eat bamboo fast food? Why are cavities essential to one reptile's survival? What effect can a slight temperature change have on alligator hatchlings? How can some seals stay underwater so long and dive so deeply without harm?