Books with author Diane Ackerman

Best-selling author (A Natural History of the Senses) and naturalist Diane Ackerman takes a beguiling look at the complex world of the bat--one of the most varied and mysterious of animals. Ackerman describes a visit, with distinguished photographer and bat expert Merlin Tuttle, to the Big Bend national park area of Texas where she observes the nightly emergence of over 20 million bats from Bracken Cave and helps track them for study. In addition to conveying the experience of observing, handling, and studying bats firsthand, Ackerman relates information on a variety of bat species, as well as feeding and reproduction habits, the remarkable sonar they use to navigate and hunt, their migration and hibernation patterns, and their role in the ecosystems they inhabit. More than 50 spectacular color photographs enliven this distinctive, informative, and accessible addition to the natural history shelf.

Ian and Antonina Zabinski were christian zookeepers horrified by Nazi racism, who capitalized on the Nazis' obsession with rare animals in order to save over three hundred doomed people. Their story has fallen between the seams of history, as radically compassionate acts sometimes do. But in wartime Poland, when even handing a thirsty Jew a cup of water was punishable by death, their heroism stands out as all the more startling. The author relied on many sources detailed in the bibliography, but most of all on the memoirs ("based on my diary and loose notes") of "the zookeeper's wife"; Antonina Zabinska. This story will touch every nerve you have, as author Ackerman tells this story with a perfect rapport for it's main characters, both human and animal.

A stapler with its tiny fangsCannot outwit orangutangs.Rocks are very good at sitting,but never walk or take up knitting.Living things all feel and sensetheir way through every happenstance. . . . In this delightfully witty collection of poems, bestselling author Diane Ackerman shows how the senses shape and enrich the experiences of all living beings. With enchanting illustrations by Peter Sís, Animal Sense is sure to capture the imagination of readers young and old.

A stapler with its tiny fangsCannot outwit orangutangs.Rocks are very good at sitting,but never walk or take up knitting.Living things all feel and sensetheir way through every happenstance. . . . In this delightfully witty collection of poems, bestselling author Diane Ackerman shows how the senses shape and enrich the experiences of all living beings. With enchanting illustrations by Peter Sís, Animal Sense is sure to capture the imagination of readers young and old.From the Hardcover edition.