Nonfiction Animal Biology

Cheep! Cheep! What is that sound? It’s a baby bird in a nest! Beginning listeners will discover why nests make good homes for growing baby birds, squirrels, and other animals.

Jeanne Villepreux-Power was never expected to be a scientist. Born in 1794 in a French village more than 100 miles from the ocean, she pursued an improbable path that brought her to the island of Sicily. There, she took up natural history and solved the two-thousand-year-old mystery of how the argonaut octopus gets its shell. In an era when most research focused on dead specimens, Jeanne was determined to experiment on living animals. And to keep sea creatures alive for her studies, she had to invent a contraption to hold them: the aquarium.

With three hearts and blue blood, its gelatinous body unconstrained by jointed limbs or gravity, the octopus seems to be an alien, an inhabitant of another world. It’s baggy, boneless body sprouts eight arms covered with thousands of suckers—suckers that can taste as well as feel. The octopus also has the powers of a superhero: it can shape-shift, change color, squirt ink, pour itself through the tiniest of openings, or jet away through the sea faster than a swimmer can follow.

What do you know about clown fish? Beginning listeners will get their feet wet with these literacy-building introductions to ocean animals. In addition to curricular information, social-emotional questions encourage reflection and family/educator engagement tips help connect the topic to the listener's life. These books are sure to make a splash!

What do you know about dolphins? Beginning listeners will get their feet wet with these literacy-building introductions to ocean animals. In addition to curricular information, social-emotional questions encourage reflection and family/educator engagement tips help connect the topic to the listener's life.

What do you know about sharks? Beginning listeners will get their feet wet with these literacy-building introductions to ocean animals.

A tiny honeybee emerges through the wax cap of her cell. Driven to protect and take care of her hive, she cleans the nursery and feeds the larvae and the queen. But is she strong enough to fly? Not yet! Apis builds wax comb to store honey and transfers pollen from other bees into the storage. She defends the hive from invaders. And finally, she begins her new life as an adventurer. The confining walls of the hive fall away as Apis takes to the air, finally free, into a clear blue sky full of promise.

What do you know about jellyfish? Beginning listeners will get their feet wet with these literacy-building introductions to ocean animals.

What do you know about starfish? Beginning listeners will get their feet wet with these literacy-building introductions to ocean animals.

On remote Codfish Island off the southern coast of New Zealand live the last 91 kakapo parrots on earth. These trusting, flightless, and beautiful birds - the largest and most unusual parrots on earth - have suffered devastating population loss. Now, on an island refuge with the last of the species, New Zealand’s National Kakapo Recovery Team is working to restore the kakapo population. With the help of 14 humans who share a single hut and a passion for saving these odd ground-dwelling birds, the kakapo are making a comeback in New Zealand.

What do you know about rays? Beginning listeners will get their feet wet with these literacy-building introductions to ocean animals.

Meet animals that live in the desert, including camels, lizards, owls, snakes, spiders, and tortoises. Pair this nonfiction title with its fiction companion book, No Bugs Here.

How does a foal grow into a horse? Follow each step in nature's cycle - from birth to stallion or mare - in this fascinating book!

Whether they're scrambling up trees or scampering across lawns, squirrels are fun animals to watch! Beginning audiences can learn about these furry backyard visitors through low-level text in this engaging title.

What roams through grassland habitats? Discover bison, elephants, giraffes, kangaroos, lions, and zebra. Pair this nonfiction title with its fiction companion book, My Baby Elephant.

During an ordinary visit to the library, a young girl pulls out a not-so-ordinary book from the shelves. As she turns the pages in this book about coral reefs, the city around her slips away, and she finds herself surrounded by the coral cities of the sea and the mysterious plants and animals that live, hunt, and hide there.

How does an egg become a butterfly? Follow each step in nature's cycle - from egg to brightly colored insect - in this fascinating book!

How does a tadpole become a frog? Follow each step in nature's cycle - from egg to adulthood - in this fascinating book!

Dive beneath the waves to meet the crabs, fish, turtles, whales, and seaweed that live in the ocean habitat. Pair this nonfiction title with its fiction companion book, The Fish.

¿Quién es la criatura más hambrienta en el mar del sur? El camarón antártico puede moverse en cardúmenes y el bacalao azul puede estar cazando para cenar, pero ninguno es lo suficientemente feroz como para estar en la cima de la red trófica. Este es un cuento con sabor a "pescado" sobre quién se come a quién. Los depredadores se vuelven presas y finalmente, sólo un animal llega a la cima. Bucea dentro del rítmico texto y averigua quién podría ser.