Animal Science

Our world runs on energy! But traditional fossil fuels are doing great damage to the environment, and they will eventually run out. How might solar, water, wind and geothermal power come to our rescue? Listeners can discover how different the world could look in the future with energy sources that are clean and renewable.

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.

David R. Montgomery and Anne Bikle take us far beyond the well-worn adage to deliver a new truth: the roots of good health start on farms. What Your Food Ate marshals evidence from recent and forgotten science to illustrate how the health of the soil ripples through to that of crops, livestock, and ultimately us. Navigating discoveries and epiphanies about the world beneath our feet, they reveal why regenerative farming practices hold the key to healing sick soil and untapped potential for improving human health.

À la ferme du Manoir, c'est la révolution : les animaux ont pris le pouvoir. Désormais, ils ne travailleront que pour eux-mêmes, et bâtiront ensemble un avenir radieux. Désormais, ils ne connaîtront plus de maître, car tous les animaux sont égaux. Ou, du moins, presque tous... Cette nouvelle traduction restitue toute la verve satirique d'une fable politique magistrale. Tristement intemporelle et terriblement drôle, La Ferme des animaux n'a pas fini de faire réfléchir les Hommes. Traduction Clotilde Meyer

Maurice, a streetwise tomcat, has the perfect money-making scam. Everyone knows the stories about rats and pipers, and Maurice has a stupid-looking kid with a pipe, and his very own plague of rats—strangely educated rats. But in Bad Blintz, the little con suddenly goes down the drain. For someone there is playing a different tune and now the rats must learn a new word. EVIL. It's not a game any more. It's a rat-eat-rat world. And that might only be the start.

In all animals, mating is a deal. But few creatures behave as if sex is a simple, even mutually beneficial, transaction. Many more treat it with reverence, suspicion, angst, and violence. In the case of the Black Grouse, the bird at the center of Matt Ridley’s investigation, the males dance and sing for hours a day, for several exhausting months, in an arduous and even deadly ritual called a “lek.” To prepare for the ordeal, they grow, preen and display fancy, twisted, bold-colored feathers. When achieved, consummation with a female takes seconds.

More than half a century ago, the naturalist Farley Mowat accepted an assignment to investigate why wolves were killing Arctic caribou. Mowat’s account of the summer he lived in the frozen tundra alone – studying the wolf population and developing a deep affection for these wild creatures (who were no threat to caribou or man) – is today celebrated as a classic of nature writing, at once a tale of remarkable adventure and an indelible record of the myths and magic of wolves.

A shadow has fallen on the shore of the Eastern sea, a shadow called Marshank. In this cold stone fortress, a stoat named Badrang holds dozens of innocent creatures as slaves, part of his scheme to build an empire where he will rule as unquestioned tyrant.

Mona the mouse has finally found a place to call home, the cozy Heartwood Hotel, where she works as a maid and sleeps snuggled up in a room with her best friend. Following the festive St. Slumber celebration, most of the guests have settled in to hibernate, and the staff is looking forward to a relaxing winter. But disruptions abound, from a difficult duchess to a mysterious midnight snacker. As the snow stacks higher, Mona will have to gather friends both old and new to keep the peace, finding help in some of the most unexpected places.

Half-witch Kiki never runs from a challenge. So when her 13th birthday arrives, she's eager to follow a witch's tradition: choose a new town to call home for one year. Brimming with confidence, Kiki flies to the seaside village of Koriko and expects that her powers will easily bring happiness to the townspeople.

Fans of Shark Week, Sharknado, and all things shark-related will want to sink their teeth into this exciting shark-infested chapter book. Join real-life cave divers, extreme photographers, and researchers as they brave thrilling undersea adventures! Kids who are familiar with the popular National Geographic Kids Chapters line are sure to be on the edge of their seats over these new totally true tales of adventure and survival.

It's 1863, and dinosaurs roam the streets of New York as the Civil War rages between raptor-mounted armies down South. Magdalys Roca and her friends from the Colored Orphan Asylum are on a field trip when the Draft Riots break out, and a number of their fellow orphans are kidnapped by an evil magistrate, Richard Riker. Magdalys and her friends flee to Brooklyn and settle in the Dactyl Hill neighborhood. Together with the Vigilance Committee, they train to fly on dactylback, discover new friends and amazing dinosaurs, and plot to take down Riker.

W. H. Beck's highly anticipated debut promises to delight young listeners with an imaginative tale about a rat who refuses to be judged by his appearance. Malcolm the rat loves the attention he gets as a pet at McKenna School. That' s where he meets the Midnight Academy, a secret society of classroom pets who've pledged to keep the students safe. The trouble is, rats have a bad reputation, so when their iguana leader is kidnapped, the Academy suspects Malcolm.

If you have spent any part of your life with a dog, you may have found certain questions popping, unbidden, into your mind: Is my dog living a fulfilled life? Is my dog a good dog? Does my dog love me? Addressing these questions compels you to confront not just your dog's life but yours as well—to think about what fulfillment, and meaning, in life really is. In The Word of Dog, philosopher Mark Rowlands explores these questions and suggests that in dogs we can see hints—faint, shrouded, but discernible—of what a better way of living might look like.

Salamandastron, under the guardianship of old Lord Stonepaw, is under threat from an enemy of immense and terrifying power. Ungatt Trunn, the wildcat who can make the stars fall from the sky, has attacked with his Blue Hordes and is determined that the fortress should be his. The mountain's defences are weak and it seems that nothing can stand in his way. Nothing, that is, but the badger Lord Brocktree, who is drawn to Salamandastron by an undeniable sense of duty. But if he is to rescue the mountain from Trunn, he must gather about him an army capable of defeating them in battle.

For millennia, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented more than thirty thousand years ago in the Chauvet Cave paintings in southern France. With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Jennifer Ackerman illuminates the rich biology and natural history of these birds and reveals remarkable new scientific discoveries about their brains and behavior.

Can octopuses feel pain and pleasure? What about crabs, shrimps, insects, or spiders? How do we tell whether a person unresponsive after severe brain injury might be suffering? When does a fetus in the womb start to have conscious experiences? Could there even be rudimentary feelings in miniature models of the human brain, grown from human stem cells? And what about AI? These are questions about the edge of sentience, and they are subject to enormous, disorienting uncertainty. We desperately want certainty, but it is out of reach.

This box set contains the first three books by Kathryn Lasky: The Capture, The Journey, and The Rescue. Soren is born in the forest of Tyto, a tranquil kingdom where the Barn Owls dwell. But evil lurks in the owl world, and Soren is captured and imprisoned in a dark canyon where there is a mysterious school. It’s called an orphanage, but Soren believes it’s something far worse. He and his new friend, the clever and scrappy Gylfie, know that the only way out is up. To escape, they will need to do something these fledglings have never done before—fly.

The sun is shining in the Hundred Isles, and yet the path forward seems crowded with shadows. Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan have traveled across the world, seeking a set of powerful talismans in order to keep them from enemy hands. Throughout their journey the young heroes have been hounded by pursuers who always seem to know just where to find them. Now they know why…

Ever since she discovered her affinity for magic, 17-year-old Anouk has been desperate to become a witch. It's the only way to save her friends who, like Anouk, are beasties: animals enchanted into humans. But unlike Anouk, the other beasties didn't make it out of the battle at Montelimar in one piece. With her friends now trapped in their animal forms, Anouk is forced into a sinister deal involving a political marriage with her sworn enemy, a wicked plot to overthrow London's fiercest coven of witches, and a deadly trial of fire to become a witch.