Books in Natural Science series

Fly into the world of birds in the most complete guide for kids to North America's birds, featuring range maps, cool facts, fun activities, and detailed descriptions and drawings by Jonathan Alderfer, one of the country's top avian experts and artists.Kids can soar with peregrine falcons or hop with backyard sparrows or sing with robins in the pages of this engaging guide, perfectly leveled for kids just discovering these fascinating feathered friends. With beautiful photography and habitat snapshots, lots of the fun facts kids love, plus interactive birding activities and crafts, the newly updated and expanded guide is the perfect way to bring the fun and amazement of beautiful birds to junior birders. The guide features profiles of 50 of North America's most popular birds--including how and where they live and tips about how to spot, hear, and attract them--as well as mini-profiles of another 100 birds, for coverage of 150 bird species in all.

Grab a beaker, pick up your whisk, and get ready to cook up some solid science. Using food as our tools (or ingredients!) curious kids become saucy scientists that measure, weigh, combine, and craft their way through the kitchen. Discover dozens of thoroughly-tested, fun, edible experiments, sprinkled with helpful photos, diagrams, scientific facts, sub-experiments, and more. And the best news is when all the mad-science is done, you're invited to grab a spoon and take a bite -- and share your results with friends and family.

Beautiful photography and lyrical text pair with comprehensive picture captions in award-winning author Melissa Stewart's story about the surprisingly diverse world of seeds. Learn all about the plant cycle, from how seeds grow, the fascinating ways they travel, and what it takes for a seed to become a plant.Meet seeds that pop, hop, creep, and explode in this vividly illustrated introduction to the simplest concepts of botany. The story, which is perfect for elementary school Common Core learning, carefully highlights the many ways that seeds get from here to there, engaging children's curiosity with strong action verbs. Stunning photographs with fact-packed captions provide supporting details, explaining the role of seed features and functions in creating new generations of plants. Complete with an illustrated glossary and back matter featuring more resources, this book inspires wonder as it encourages budding botanists of all ages to look with new eyes at plants and their seeds.

Space is still the final frontier and Mars continues to make news and attract generations of young people. In this fascinating book, hero-astronaut Buzz Aldrin challenges curious kids to think about Mars as not just a faraway red planet but as a possible future home for Earthlings! What will your new home be like? How will you get there? What will you eat for breakfast? Find out what life might be like far, far from Earth as you navigate your way through this fun and fascinating book. What kid wouldn't want to blast off with him on this (literary) journey!

Budding scientists and kids curious about Earth's next-door neighbor can blast off to the red planet! This highly visual book will cover all kinds of topics, from extreme weather to high-tech rovers to plans for a human colony on Mars. Complete with up-to-date facts about water and all the latest discoveries, Mars: The Red Planet comes at an exciting time for space exploration.

Silkworms are not actually worms at all. They are the caterpillars of a large white moth. Many moth caterpillars produce silk thread inside their bodies, but the thread of the silkworm is so fine and strong that human beings use it to make a beautiful fabric. In countries like Japan, people raise millions of silkworms on farms and take their thread to be processed into silk cloth. Readers of this book will find out how silk farmers process silk and what role this amazing thread plays in the life cycle of the silkworm moth.

From the fossil hunter who discovered the Homo naledi fossils in September 2015, this book is an amazing account of Lee Berger’s 2008 hunt -- with the help of his curious 9-year-old son -- for a previously unknown species of ape-like creatures that may have been direct ancestors of modern humans. The discovery of two remarkably well preserved, two-million-year-old fossils of an adult female and young male, known as Australopiitecus sediba, has been hailed as one of the most important archaeological discoveries in history. The fossils reveal what may be one of humankind's oldest ancestors.Berger believes the skeletons they found on the Malapa site in South Africa could be the "Rosetta stone that unlocks our understanding of the genus Homo" and may just redesign the human family tree.Berger, an Eagle Scout and National Geographic Grantee, is the Reader in Human Evolution and the Public Understanding of Science in the Institute for Human Evolution at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.The focus of the book will be on the way in which we can apply new thinking to familiar material and come up with a breakthrough. Marc Aronson is particularly interested in framing these issues for young people and has had enormous success with this approach in his previous books: Ain't Nothing But a Man and If Stones Could Speak.Berger's discovery in one of the most excavated and studied areas on Earth revealed a treasure trove of human fossils--and an entirely new human species--where people thought no more field work might ever be necessary. Technology and revelation combined, plus a good does of luck, to broaden by ten times the number of early human fossils known, rejuvenating this field of study and posing countless more questions to be answered in years and decades to come.Releases simultaneously in Reinforced Library Binding: 978-1-4263-1053-9 , $27.90/$32.00 Can

Take to the skies with planetary geologist Dr. E and her robot sidekick, Rover, to explore the solar system's wildest, most astronomical geology--with comic book flair!This stellar book introduces kids to outer space through in-depth info and comic book adventure. Along the way, kids follow explorer Bethany Ehlmann, a member of the NASA Mars Rover Curiosity mission, and her lovable robo-dog, Rover, as they study and protect our amazing solar system. Dr. E's conversational and funny explanations of the solar system and planetary geology will pull kids in like gravity. The pairing of fun, graphic novel side stories with science facts makes big concepts accessible and interesting to boys and girls of all levels, from STEM science fans to reluctant readers alike.

Could Griffins have been real? When Adrienne Mayor carefully read the ancient Greek and Roman descriptions, this mythic hybrid of a lion and an eagle sounded like something people had actually seen. What could explain that evidence? After a decade of hunting through myths, poring over old maps, and tracing the discoveries of modern dinosaur hunters, she found the answer: awesome dinosaur fossils observed by ancient gold-hunters in the Gobi desert. Here is the story of one insightful, curious, and determined woman who solved the mystery of the Griffin, and invented a new science. Now she and others travel the world matching myths and fossils.

Finally, it's here! The farthest reaches of our universe captured in atlas form for young readers. Planets, Stars, and Galaxies is the space book that pushes the boundaries of man's ultimate frontier. The engaging, educational text, written in collaboration with National Geographic experts, includes the latest discoveries about our universe; while specially commissioned artwork by the author illuminates page after page. Exciting as well as enlightening, Planets, Stars, and Galaxies belongs on every family bookshelf, providing easy reference for school reports and compelling reading on the myriad mysteries beyond our world. With vivid illustrations and superb photography, this beautiful book puts the wonders of space into every child's hands. This engaging, provocative reference work includes: the new solar system including dwarf planets Pluto, Ceres, and Eris;the latest developments in space exploration, science, and research—how a star is born and dies, "weird worlds," the "galactic zoo," and more;fun facts about space and amazing new images—Saturn's rings, Jupiter's moons, and Hubble's deep-space view;first-hand accounts from scientists and astronauts—what it's like to study the universe and to live in space;a fascinating look into our future in space: What space travel might hold in a reader's own lifetime—moon colonies, hotels on Mars? How will the universe end?questions to ponder, such as "Is there other life in the universe?"an illustrated timeline of space research and exploration, star charts, moon maps, fact boxes, and helpful scientific diagrams.

True Green Kids is the one book every home should have for the next generation. This vital children’s title is an innovative collection of fun and practical ways to help kids become agents for environmental change in their world.With fresh, new strategies and a bright, friendly design, True Green Kids invites the whole family to embark on an eco-adventure through a series of fun ideas that can be applied everywhere from the living room to the local park. Underscoring its message of individual awareness and action with beautiful color illustrations and lively text, the book puts an energetic spin on conservation, making environmental stewardship exciting and empowering for young kids. With a foreword by Clean Up the World Ambassador and National Geographic Emerging Explorer David de Rothschild, this volume brings the core message that you can make a difference to a younger audience in an engaging, educational way. While primarily aimed at kids, the book also encourages the active involvement of parents, teachers, and other members of the community, making it a vital addition to every library, home, and classroom.