Books in Exploring the World series

The haunting sound of its distant hoot may be as close as many of us ever get to an owl. But of the roughly 200 owl species worldwide, 19 make their homes across North America. These birds of prey display noticeable differences in size and markings, but they also share many physical traits and living skills. How do owls capture prey and defend themselves? How are their wings designed for silent, gliding flight? How do owls conceal themselves from predators? Young readers will learn the answers to these questions and much more in the beautifully illustrated Exploring the World of Owls.

The facts and fun of life as a fox. With their catlike faces, big ears and fluffy tails, foxes appeal to youngsters, but children may not know that a fox can smell prey deep in the snow and that some can climb trees. Young readers will learn about the various fox species, such as red foxes, arctic foxes, gray foxes and swift foxes, and they will read about what it would be like to be a fox pup. Photographs of adult and young foxes in their natural habitats and sidebars with storylike content round out this rich portrayal of foxes in the wild. In the Exploring the World of ... series, Firefly Books is pleased to present an exciting new nature series produced especially for young readers who are eager to learn more about the wild animals they find especially appealing. The books are packed with facts and offer outstanding value. Clear text in large type and vivid photographs with explanatory captions describe the animals' physical attributes, and storylike narratives about their daily life -- where they live, what they eat, how they hunt, how they communicate, how they raise their young -- present a complete picture of each animal.

A glimpse inside the daily life of nature's masked bandits. Children find the bandit-masked face and button nose of a raccoon irresistibly cute, and catching a glimpse of one in a neighborhood tree never fails to excite. Raccoons describes the natural history of these cousins of the panda bear and explains how that heritage helps them thrive in cities as well as in fields and woodlands. Color photographs of adults and kits in urban and natural settings give readers the chance to look more closely at these elusive creatures, and children will enjoy the amusing descriptions of the raccoon's antics and mischief. But Raccoons also shows youngsters why they shouldn't feed these brazen visitors and that, even though they share our cities and towns, raccoons will always be wild animals. In the Exploring the World of... series, Firefly Books is pleased to present an exciting new nature series produced especially for young readers who are eager to learn more about the wild animals they find especially appealing. The books are packed with facts and offer outstanding value. Clear text in large type and vivid photographs with explanatory captions describe the animals' physical attributes, and storylike narratives about their daily life -- where they live, what they eat, how they hunt, how they communicate, how they raise their young -- present a complete picture of each animal.

The facts and fun of life as a fox. With their catlike faces, big ears and fluffy tails, foxes appeal to youngsters, but children may not know that a fox can smell prey deep in the snow and that some can climb trees. Young readers will learn about the various fox species, such as red foxes, arctic foxes, gray foxes and swift foxes, and they will read about what it would be like to be a fox pup. Photographs of adult and young foxes in their natural habitats and sidebars with storylike content round out this rich portrayal of foxes in the wild. In the Exploring the World of ... series, Firefly Books is pleased to present an exciting new nature series produced especially for young readers who are eager to learn more about the wild animals they find especially appealing. The books are packed with facts and offer outstanding value. Clear text in large type and vivid photographs with explanatory captions describe the animals' physical attributes, and storylike narratives about their daily life -- where they live, what they eat, how they hunt, how they communicate, how they raise their young -- present a complete picture of each animal.

The haunting sound of its distant hoot may be as close as many of us ever get to an owl. But of the roughly 200 owl species worldwide, 19 make their homes across North America. These birds of prey display noticeable differences in size and markings, but they also share many physical traits and living skills. How do owls capture prey and defend themselves? How are their wings designed for silent, gliding flight? How do owls conceal themselves from predators? Young readers will learn the answers to these questions and much more in the beautifully illustrated Exploring the World of Owls.

Coyotes are wily, secretive and extremely adaptive -- what young reader wouldn't be fascinated? Familiar to kids and adults alike through its many appearances in folk and popular culture, the multicolored coyote has the gray wolf to thank for its survival. As humans eliminated wolf populations across the continent over the last century, the coyote easily filled the gap. Today it is the most successful and most numerous large predator in North America. It makes its homes not only in the wild but increasingly in suburbs and even urban centers -- the coyote is wary of humans but is quite willing to enter the human world in pursuit of food. The coyote has a curious blend of characteristics that it shares with its dog-family relatives, the wolf and the red fox. Like the red fox, it has graceful, catlike movements. Like the wolf, it can hunt in packs but may also hunt on its own or with a partner. Exploring the World of Coyotes explains how the wily coyote achieved such great success, from its elaborate communication skills, mate selection and family life to its adaptive life skills and physical characteristics. The Exploring the World of... series is written for young readers who are curious about the natural world and the appealing creatures that inhabit it. Like its companion titles, Exploring the World of Coyotes is packed with facts and offer outstanding value.

Silently suspended in water, with only their eyes, nostrils and ears breaking the surface, these members of the crocodilian family play a terrifying sit-and-wait game with their prey, striking with lightning speed, chilling accuracy and a deadly bite stronger than any other living creature. Their victims stand little chance once held in their strong jaws. Land-dwelling prey are equally at risk--crocodilians can walk, gallop and leap at high speed, making them among nature's fiercest predators. The crocodile and alligator families descend from the reptiles that roamed Earth alongside the dinosaurs some 250 million years ago. Today, most of the land-dwelling crocodilians live in tropical lowlands, while the broad-snouted American and Chinese alligators have adapted to cooler temperatures. In Exploring the World of Alligators and Crocodiles, young readers will learn about the crocodilians' life history, physical characteristics, courtship displays, communication strategies and family life. They'll also find out how these semiaquatic reptiles rely on their senses and speed to survive--and why humans should keep their distance. The Exploring the World of... nature series was created for young readers who are eager to learn more about the wild creatures of the world. Each title contains beautiful photographs of the animals in their natural habitats and the highly readable text explores their daily lives and physical characteristics, how they make their homes, how they raise their young and what they eat. "This series has a different approach than typical animal books and goes beyond a basic introduction. The books provide the reader with another perspective and focus on different forms of survival tactics. Diagrams of the animals are presented describing different body parts and their functions. Another chapter discusses the natural talents of the animal... An extensive index is included. Recommended." --Library Media Connection, of the previous books in the series

A glimpse inside the daily life of nature's masked bandits. Children find the bandit-masked face and button nose of a raccoon irresistibly cute, and catching a glimpse of one in a neighborhood tree never fails to excite. Raccoons describes the natural history of these cousins of the panda bear and explains how that heritage helps them thrive in cities as well as in fields and woodlands. Color photographs of adults and kits in urban and natural settings give readers the chance to look more closely at these elusive creatures, and children will enjoy the amusing descriptions of the raccoon's antics and mischief. But Raccoons also shows youngsters why they shouldn't feed these brazen visitors and that, even though they share our cities and towns, raccoons will always be wild animals. In the Exploring the World of... series, Firefly Books is pleased to present an exciting new nature series produced especially for young readers who are eager to learn more about the wild animals they find especially appealing. The books are packed with facts and offer outstanding value. Clear text in large type and vivid photographs with explanatory captions describe the animals' physical attributes, and storylike narratives about their daily life -- where they live, what they eat, how they hunt, how they communicate, how they raise their young -- present a complete picture of each animal.