Nature Mysteries

When Mia moves to Vermont the summer after seventh grade, she's recovering from the broken arm she got falling off a balance beam. And packed away in the moving boxes under her clothes and gymnastics trophies is a secret she'd rather forget. Mia's change in scenery brings day camp, new friends, and time with her beloved grandmother. But Gram is convinced someone is trying to destroy her cricket farm. Is it sabotage or is Gram's thinking impaired from the stroke she suffered months ago?

Abi and her two step-brothers, Max and Louis, find that strange things happen when they are alone in their eerie, ivy-covered new house. Abi, reading alone, finds herself tumbling deep into books, while Louis summons a startling guest through his bedroom window. Even Max has started to see shapes in the shadows....Their busy parents see none of it - but Louis' secret visitor is growing too alarming to keep secret, and he finds he cannot manage without Max and Abi's help. Can they find out where the mysterious creature has come from - and how to get it back there?

Everyone loves Drover, Hank's trusty sidekick. But have you ever wondered what the little, white, stub-tailed dog's life was like before he came to the ranch? Well, it's all here, in Drover's own words. Scratching his story out in the dirt on the machine shed floor, Drover comes clean about his secret life--from his early days as runt of the litter, to his frustrating search for a job, to his ultimate position as Hank's right-paw man.

There's been a brutal murder on the ranch, and it's up to Hank the Cowdog, Head of Ranch Security, to conduct the investigation. The only problem is no one's talking. After a dangerous fact-finding mission, Hank thinks he knows who the guilty party is.

In this compelling narrative, O'Connor seeks out neuroscientists, anthropologists and master navigators to understand how navigation ultimately gave us our humanity. Biologists have been trying to solve the mystery of how organisms have the ability to migrate and orient with such precision - especially since our own adventurous ancestors spread across the world without maps or instruments. O'Connor goes to the Arctic, the Australian bush and the South Pacific to talk to masters of their environment who seek to preserve their traditions at a time when anyone can use a GPS to navigate.

The Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith. What can we say about the divine nature, and what does it mean to say that God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit, three persons who are one in being? In this book, bestselling author Thomas Joseph White, OP, examines the development of early Christian reflection on the Trinity, arguing that essential contributions of Patristic theology are preserved and expanded in the thought of Thomas Aquinas.

When my old friend Professor von Volt called to ask for help, I agreed immediately, even though it meant trekking halfway around the world to Mouse Everest! The trip was long and dangerous. I almost froze my tail off along the way. And then I was kidnapped by a yeti! Yes, it was truly an amazing adventure.

Avoided by the Coast Salish tribes for generations, Hurst Island is one of the last remnants of untracked wilderness on the British Columbia coastal frontier. Not yet overtaken by logging or commercial fishing, it is a final outpost where myth lives on, heedless of human progress or desire. As their boat sinks, Amy and Ian find themselves stranded on this island, unaware of what they are about to face.

The Aldens have promised Grandfather a vacation from mysteries during their island visit. But the promise proves hard to keep when things start to go missing. Then an old fisherman tells Benny of the island’s ghost horse, and late that very night Benny sees a mysterious stallion galloping down the beach. Could the ghost horse have something to do with the disappearances?

Judy Moody is in a mood. A sleuthing, Nancy Drew kind of mood. So what’s a WBMS (world’s best mystery solver) to do? Go find a mystery, that’s what! And she doesn’t have to snoop for long: when Mr. Chips, a beloved crime-dog-in-training, goes missing, Judy Drewdy and her chums, agents Dills Pickle (Frank), Spuds Houdini (Rocky), and James Madagascar (Stink) find themselves smack-dab in the middle of a real-life, scare-your-pants-off whodunit. Was Mr. Chips stolen by dirty dognappers? And why are chocolate-chip cookies disappearing all over town?

From rags to riches...When Pete the Barncat offers to trade good, juicy steak scraps for a couple of old corncobs, Hank the Cowdog smells a rat. Why would Pete want to trade - unless the cobs are worth a fortune? So, armed with his Incredible PricelessCorncobs, Hank sets out to plan his Early Retirement. But retirement and the life of luxury don't come as easily as Hank expects. It seems as though everyone is after his treasure - even his faithful sidekick, Drover!

Life innovates constantly, producing perfectly adapted species—but there's a catch. Many animals and plants eke out seemingly unremarkable lives. Passive, constrained, modest, threatened. Then, in a blink of evolutionary time, they flourish spectacularly. Once we start to look, these 'sleeping beauties' crop up everywhere. But why? Looking at the book of life, from apex predators to keystone crops, and informed by his own cutting-edge experiments, renowned scientist Andreas Wagner demonstrates that innovations can come frequently and cheaply to nature, well before they are needed.

The Chicken Squad prides themselves on being ready for anything. Marshmallow life preserves? Check. Copious bags of jellybeans for a car ride? Check. Storm shelter? Storm shelter! They need a storm shelter in case there is ever a storm. So Sugar takes it upon himself to build one in the yard. But it turns out it's not big enough for everyone. And the big dig has unearthed some mysterious surprises.

Hank's in double trouble! Hank conducts defensive maneuvers against an attacking silver monster bird. But the trouble really begins when Hank is stricken with a terrible case of "Eye-Croserosis". Can he find a cure? Will the mysterious Madame Moonshine be able to help him? Hank's job is at stake!

Bowser is a dog detective on the loose, paired with an 11-year-old girl, Birdie. Bowser and Birdie live on the Louisiana coast with Birdie's Grammy. When a prize stuffed marlin is stolen from Grammy's bait and tackle shop, Birdie and Bowser decide to take on the case. But what looks like a straightforward break-in soon becomes as tangled as a tourist's fishing line.

Eleven-year-old Leo is an "armchair adventurer." This, according to Dad, means he'd choose adventures in books or video games over real-life experiences. And while Leo hates the label, he can’t argue with it. Unlike his little sister Lizzie, Leo is not a risk-taker.

Ralph and Robyn live at Crocodile Lodge, their family ranch in South Africa, where they help with the animals, aid the conservation effort and learn the land. That is, until a mysterious predator starts terrorising the reserve. On the trail for answers, the siblings discover the fearsome culprit: the largest crocodile they've ever seen, uncannily similar to the long-extinct Sarcosuchus Ralph recognises from his favourite game, Predasaur. And when a nearby village is ravaged by a deadly disease, the stakes are higher than ever.

When Naomi gets a tip about a strange snake sighting in the neighborhood, she knows it’s a job for her snake-saving club. Naomi, Nolan, and Emma go to investigate and get a huge surprise. The snake isn’t a native Texas species—it’s a ball python! Did someone dump an unwanted pet, or did this snake somehow get lost?

The Virals are put to the ultimate test when they find a geocache containing an ornate puzzle box. Shelton decodes the cipher inside, only to find more tantalizing clues left by "The Gamemaster". A second, greater geocache is within reach - if the Virals are up to the challenge. But the hunt takes a dark turn when Tory locates the other box - a fake bomb, along with a sinister proposal from The Gamemaster. Now, the real game has begun: another bomb is out there - a real one - and the clock is ticking.

Things are not looking good for the ranch. So when Loper heads into town to negotiate with the banker, Slim hits the road in search of a new home. Meanwhile, Hank and his faithful sidekick Drover hitch a ride in the back of Slim's pickup. Before long, they come to a stop in an unfamiliar town. And when Slim lands himself a new job, Hank finds that he's no longer the Head of Ranch Security, but the Head of Chicken House Security.