If you're wild about animals, this visual encyclopedia is the ultimate page-turner, bringing our planet's creatures together in spectacular style. This inspiring children's reference guide welcomes you to the animal kingdom where you can meet more than 1,500 species, ranging from ants to zebras and everything in between. Stunning pictures bring you face to face with giant predators you know and love, including polar bears and tigers, as well as mysterious microscopic life, including amoebas and bacteria. A variety of animal habitats are shown in beautiful detail, while accessible information, additional fact boxes, and amazing galleries complete the stories. A jaw-dropping spectrum of animal types - from fish and birds to reptiles and mammals - provides a learning experience like no other. Whether you're a budding naturalist or simply want to complete a school project, The Animal Book has got it covered.
"Davies’s chatty, funny text and Layton’s colorful illustrations will pull kids into this fascinating book about survival. . . . Exciting biology for the classroom." — Booklist (starred review) From the persevering emperor penguins of the South Pole to the brave bacteria inside bubbling volcanoes, from the hardy reptiles of the driest deserts to the squash-proof creatures of the deepest seabeds, animals have adapted to survive in conditions that would kill a human faster than you can say "coffin." Discover how they do it in this amazing natural history book from a celebrated team — and find out who wins the title of the toughest animal of them all. Back matter includes an index and a glossary.
Humans have lived in close proximity to other animals for thousands of years. Recent scientific studies have even shown that the presence of animals has a positive effect on our physical and mental health. People with pets typically have lower blood pressure, show fewer symptoms of depression, and tend to get more exercise. But there is a darker side to the relationship between animals and humans. Animals are carriers of harmful infectious agents and the source of a myriad of human diseases. In recent years, the emergence of high-profile illnesses such as AIDS, SARS, West Nile virus, and bird flu has drawn much public attention, but as E. Fuller Torrey and Robert H. Yolken reveal, the transfer of deadly microbes from animals to humans is neither a new nor an easily avoided problem. Beginning with the domestication of farm animals nearly 10,000 years ago, Beasts of the Earth traces the ways that human-animal contact has evolved over time. Today, shared living quarters, overlapping ecosystems, and experimental surgical practices where organs or tissues are transplanted from non-humans into humans continue to open new avenues for the transmission of infectious agents. Other changes in human behavior like increased air travel, automated food processing, and threats of bioterrorism are increasing the contagion factor by transporting microbes further distances and to larger populations in virtually no time at all. While the authors urge that a better understanding of past diseases may help us lessen the severity of some illnesses, they also warn that, given our increasingly crowded planet, it is not a question of if but when and how often animal-transmitted diseases will pose serious challenges to human health in the future.
Presents twelve endangered species from around the world, and provides basic information on the characteristics, behaviors, threats to survival, and current conservation efforts for each animal.
This book explains the causes and effects of endangered animals, as well as what individuals and groups can do to help protect them. The book includes a table of contents, one infographic, informative sidebars, a "You Can Help!" special feature, quiz questions, a glossary, additional resources, and an index. This Focus Readers title is at the Pioneer level, aligned to reading levels of grades 1–2 and interest levels of grades 1–3.
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