Animal Science

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.

Describes the process of how tornadoes can form. Also includes explanations of updrafts, downdrafts, thunderstorms, rotation, and funnel clouds.

Gregor is summoned back to the Underland by the terms of a second prophecy. Spies have reported the sighting of a Rat King, a character who has been legendary since the Middle Ages. Recognizable by its tremendous size and snow-white coat, the Rat King is destined to bring a World War to the Underland. Gregor eventually comes face to face with the Rat King, and to his surprise, he finds he is unable to kill this creature. His heart tells him he's making the right decision.

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.

As the dark forces that have come between the four warrior Clans grow stronger, Jayfeather is summoned to the mountains by a desperate plea - the Tribe of Rushing Water is on the brink of being lost forever.

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.

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.

When the outlaw clan of foxes, weasels, stoats, and other vermin led by vicious ferret Sawney Rath kidnaps an infant otter of Redwall to serve as their Taggerung - a fierce warrior who no beast can stand against in battle - they have no idea what they're getting into. Trained in all the deadly arts and able to outfight, outrun, and outthink any clanbeast, the Taggerung grows up with only one slight peculiarit.

Co-author of the best-selling Mrs. Murphy novels, Rita Mae Brown launches a new series with this first mystery featuring Baxter the wirehaired dachshund. When Baxter and his owner, Mags, leave New York for Nevada, they find themselves embroiled in a real head scratcher. First, the local water-pumping station is sabotaged. Then, a murdered man’s bones - dating back to the 1800s - are unearthed in a barn owned by Mags’ great-aunt.

The fifth book in the Dawn of the Clans series takes listeners back to the earliest days of the Clans, when the cats first settled in the forest and began to forge the warrior code. The spirit-cats have spoken: To survive, the cats from the mountains must grow and spread like the Blazing Star. Clear Sky believes the only way to grow is to band together again, but few cats are willing to ally with him. While Tall Shadow plans to establish a new camp in the pine forest, River Ripple is content by the water, and Wind Runner has made her own home on the moor.

Everyone has been trying to keep Gregor from seeing the final prophecy, The Prophecy of Time. It says something awful: It calls for the warrior’s death. The warrior being Gregor, of course. Now, an army of rats is quickly approaching and Gregor’s mom and little sister, Boots, are still in Regalia. The entire existence of the Underland is in Gregor’s hands and time is running out. There is a code that must be cracked, a new princess to contend with Gregor’s burgeoning dark side, and a war designed to end all wars.

North America's biggest cat was once killed for bounty dollars, slaughtered with impunity and driven toward extinction. But today's cat of intrigue, despite our lingering fears and misconceptions, has returned to much of its native range in the western United States and gained respect as a predator integral and necessary to wild ecosystems. This turnaround was triggered by one man: Maurice Hornocker. Cougars on the Cliff recounts the early years of his research when he tracked lions following a dog's nose and footprints in the snow—before telemetry was available.

For generations, rats have run the mice out of whatever lands they've claimed, keeping them constantly on the move. But now the mice are disappearing, and the young queen Luxa, who credits them with saving her life, is determined to find out why. Gregor joins her on a fact-finding mission, and when the true fate of the mice is revealed, it is something far more sinister than Gregor or Luxa have imagined.

Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the secondhand bookstore he inherited from his beloved bookworm grandfather. Then, a talking cat appears with an unusual request. The feline asks for — or rather, demands — the teenager’s help in saving books with him. The world is full of lonely books left unread and unloved, and the cat and Rintaro must liberate them from their neglectful owners.

As Leafbare approaches, a new danger threatens the Clans. Twoleg construction has encroached on Clan territory, poisoning the stream and making prey especially scarce for SkyClan. Meanwhile, their leader, Leafstar, is struggling with a loss of vision while trying to maintain authority over a Clan that increasingly doubts her ability to lead. In ShadowClan, Tawnypelt senses peril as the Twoleg construction threatens the Moonpool, but she can’t get any cat, especially her son, TigerStar, to listen.

When a mysterious little free library (guarded by a large orange cat) appears overnight in the small town of Martinville, eleven-year-old Evan plucks two weathered books from its shelves, never suspecting that his life is about to change. Evan and his best friend Rafe quickly discover a link between one of the old books and a long-ago event that none of the grown-ups want to talk about. The two boys start asking questions whose answers will transform not only their own futures, but the town itself.

For the first time, all five warrior Clans have settled into their true homes in the territory around the lake. But when a shockingly harsh leaf-bare season descends on the forest, a new darkness begins to spread - a shadow that threatens a beloved Clan leader, the cats’ connection with their ancestors in StarClan, and the very warrior code by which they live.

As recently as 11,000 years ago - "near time" to geologists - mammoths, mastodons, gomphotheres, ground sloths, giant armadillos, native camels and horses, the dire wolf, and many other large mammals roamed North America. In what has become one of science's greatest riddles, these large animals vanished in North and South America around the time humans arrived at the end of the last great ice age.

The fate of all Clanhood hangs in the balance. After killing Harelight and pronouncing himself leader of RiverClan, Splashtail's thirst for power has only grown. Soon his greed threatens the safety of not only RiverClan but all Clans. Yet Splashtail's trickery knows no bounds, and the Clans find themselves in more danger than they could have imagined. Only one thing is certain: They will have to work as one to defeat Splashtail before he tears them apart.

Meow! Meow! Cats make fun pets. Some have short hair and some have long hair. Some have flat noses and others have stubby tails. Young listeners will learn about the appearance, behavior, and abilities of pet cats, and discover why these curious creatures make amazing pets.