Books in How Nature Works series

*NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book* *Junior Library Guild Selection 2017*Only a few dozen vertebrate animals have evolved true gliding abilities, but they include an astonishing variety of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.North America’s flying squirrels and Australia’s sugar gliders notwithstanding, the vast majority of them live in rainforests. Illustrated with arresting photographs, Catching Air takes us around the world to meet these animals, learn why so many gliders live in Southeast Asia, and find out why this gravity-defying ability has evolved in Draco lizards, snakes, and frogs as well as mammals. Why do gliders stop short of flying, how did bats make that final leap, and how did Homo sapiens bypass evolution to glide via wingsuits and hang gliders―or is that evolution in another guise? color photography

Selected for the 2018 Bank Street College of Education Best STEM Children’s Books of the YearWhat do the goblin shark, horseshoe crab, the “indestructible” water bear, and a handful of other bizarre animals have in common? They are all “extreme survivors,” animals that still look much like their prehistoric ancestors from millions of years ago. Meet ten amazing animals that appear to have changed little in more than 100 million years. They are the rare exceptions to the rule.More than 99 percent of all life forms have gone extinct during the 3.6-billion-year history of life on Earth. Other organisms have changed dramatically, but not our extreme survivors. Evolution may have altered their physiology and behavior, but their body plans have stood the test of time. How have these living links with Earth’s prehistoric past survived? The search for answers is leading scientists to new discoveries about the past―and future―of life on Earth. The survival secrets of some of these ancient creatures could lead to new medicines and treatments for disease. Written in a lively, entertaining voice, Extreme Survivors provides detailed life histories and strange “survival secrets” of ten ancient animals and explains evolution and natural selection. Extensive back matter includes glossary, additional facts and geographic range for each organism and a geologic timeline of Earth. F&P Level V Color Photography throughout

The role of venoms in nature … and in human medicine Why are toxins so advantageous to their possessors as to evolve over and over again? What is it about watery environments that favors so many venomous creatures? Marine biologist Paul Erickson explores these and other questions with astounding images from Andrew Martinez and other top underwater photographers.GREAT for teaching STEM Marine BiologyScorpions and brown recluse spiders are fine as far as they go, but if you want daily contact with venomous creatures, the ocean is the place to be. Blue-ringed octopi, stony corals, sea jellies, stonefish, lionfish, poison-fanged blennies, stingrays, cone snails, blind remipedes, fire urchins―you can choose your poison in the ocean. Venoms are often but not always defensive weapons. The banded sea krait, an aquatic snake, wriggles into undersea caves to prey on vicious moray eels, killing them with one of the world’s most deadly neurotoxins, which it injects through fangs that resemble hypodermic needles. color photographs

The organisms that live year-round under the ice of the Antarctic Ocean are truly amazing.Enormous jellyfish and fish with blood like antifreeze are just a few of the creatures captured in their unique habitat by underwater photographer Bill Curtsinger. This new edition is fully updated and traces the impacts of climate change and ice-shelf melt on the abundant life in the waters beneath a frozen desert.F&P Level WPraise for the first edition:“Antarctica is revealed through Curtsinger’s brilliant, crisp, color photos taken above and below the water and Cerullo’s smooth, clear narrative.” ―School Library Journal “With stunning undersea photographs, a fascinating look at the many creatures living near and beneath the waters of Antarctica.” ―Booklist “There’s enough weirdness and beauty combined to draw reluctant readers as well as animal lovers and junior ecologists.” ―Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books color photographs

* School Library Journal Starred Review ** Honor Book SSLI (Society of School Librarians International) **Skipping Stones Honor Book* Fish that live in tropical seas are like city dwellers, packed into reefs and surrounded by life in great variety and urgent motion,Fish that live in tropical seas are like city dwellers, packed into reefs andsurrounded by life in great variety and urgent motion, day and night. Through color, shape,size, and other adaptations, city fish and country fish have evolved to survive in their particular habitats.In City Fish, Country Fish, Mary Cerullo uses this powerful analogy and Jeffrey Rotman’s vibrant underwater photos to captivate young readers with the wild variety of ocean life. The second edition of this popular book includes new information about the effects of climate change on fish and their habitats and about great white sharks, who are among the few species who roam back and forth between cold and tropical waters.Fountas & Pinnell Level T color photography

Selected for the 2018 Bank Street College of Education Best STEM Children’s Books of the YearWhat do the goblin shark, horseshoe crab, the “indestructible” water bear, and a handful of other bizarre animals have in common? They are all “extreme survivors,” animals that still look much like their prehistoric ancestors from millions of years ago. Meet ten amazing animals that appear to have changed little in more than 100 million years. They are the rare exceptions to the rule.More than 99 percent of all life forms have gone extinct during the 3.6-billion-year history of life on Earth. Other organisms have changed dramatically, but not our extreme survivors. Evolution may have altered their physiology and behavior, but their body plans have stood the test of time. How have these living links with Earth’s prehistoric past survived? The search for answers is leading scientists to new discoveries about the past―and future―of life on Earth. The survival secrets of some of these ancient creatures could lead to new medicines and treatments for disease. Written in a lively, entertaining voice, Extreme Survivors provides detailed life histories and strange “survival secrets” of ten ancient animals and explains evolution and natural selection. Extensive back matter includes glossary, additional facts and geographic range for each organism and a geologic timeline of Earth.F&P Level V Color Photography throughout