Long ago before there were birds, people, or even words, a not-so-typical dragon and an unusual whale embark on a glorious adventure to explore universes and find new worlds. One day, the two friends come across ancient planet Earth-unexplored, uninhabited, and covered entirely in water. The dragon and whale can hardly believe their luck. What a gift to discover a planet just born! Filled with delight at their finding, the dragon and whale decide to play a game to see who can invent the most extraordinary creatures to fill the sea. Motivated and inspired by one another's imaginative abilities, these two friends create wondrous starfish, sea turtles, manta rays, and more-until a brilliant idea about teamwork changes everything. Written in rhythmic verse, this charming children's tale shares an enlightening message designed to stimulate the imagination, inspire compassion, and encourage the value of cooperation.
Magick is the birthright of every child in Arkadia. Power defines a person's name, their skill, their destiny. Brin Menderson is different. Even the simplest spells do nothing for him and he is starting to fear that he might not have magick at all.Little does he know that there are those in the kingdom who would see an end to peace and order; an end to the golden age of magick. They believe in a prophecy, an ancient rhyme about a child foretold to end the kings rule and bring dragons back to the starless sky. Brin is about to learn that having no magick might just make him the most important person in all the land. Heralds the coming of a strong new voice in Australian fantasy. A compellingly readable tale. His hero may not have magick but McKenzie does. - Justin Woolley, author of A Town Called Dust
The WINGS OF FIRE saga continues with a thrilling underwater adventure -- and a mystery that will change everything! The lost heir to the SeaWing throne is going home at last.She can't believe it's finally happening. Tsunami and her fellow dragonets of destiny are journeying under the water to the great SeaWing Kingdom. Stolen as an egg from the royal hatchery, Tsunami is eager to meet her future subjects and reunite with her mother, Queen Coral.But Tsunami's triumphant return doesn't go quite the way she'd imagined. Queen Coral welcomes her with open wings, but a mysterious assassin has been killing off the queen's heirs for years, and Tsunami may be the next target. The dragonets came to the SeaWings for protection, but this ocean hides secrets, betrayal--and perhaps even death.
WINNER OF THE 2017 NASW SCIENCE IN SOCIETY JOURNALISM AWARD A FINALIST FOR THE 2017 PEN/E. O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE A LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR “[A] curiously edifying book.” —The New York Times Book Review “With the taut suspense of a spy novel, Voigt paints a vivid world of murder, black market deals, and habitat destruction surrounding a fish that's considered, ironically, to be a good-luck charm.” —Discover “[An] immensely satisfying story, full of surprises and suspense....Things get weird fast.” —The Wall Street Journal An intrepid journalist’s quest to find a wild Asian arowana—the world’s most expensive aquarium fish—takes her on a global tour in this “engaging tale of obsession and perseverance…and an enthralling look at the intersection of science, commercialism, and conservationism” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). A young man is murdered for his pet fish. An Asian tycoon buys a single specimen for $150,000. Meanwhile, a pet detective chases smugglers through the streets of New York. With “the taut suspense of a spy novel” (Discover) The Dragon Behind the Glass tells the story of a fish like none other. Treasured as a status symbol believed to bring good luck, the Asian arowana, or “dragon fish,” is a dramatic example of a modern paradox: the mass-produced endangered species. While hundreds of thousands are bred in captivity, the wild fish as become a near-mythical creature. From the South Bronx to Borneo and beyond, journalist Emily Voigt follows the trail of the arowana to learn its fate in nature. “A fresh, lively look at an obsessive desire to own a piece of the wild” (Kirkus Reviews), The Dragon Behind the Glass traces our fascination with aquarium fish back to the era of exploration when naturalists stood on the cutting edge of modern science. In an age when freshwater fish now comprise one of the most rapidly vanishing groups of animals, Voigt unearths a surprising truth behind the arowana’s rise to fame—one that calls into question how we protect the world’s rarest species. “Not since Candace Millard published The River of Doubt has the world of the Amazon, Borneo, Myanmar, and other exotic locations been so colorfully portrayed as it is now in Emily Voigt’s The Dragon Behind the Glass…a must-read” (Library Journal, starred review).
The Penderwicks meets Howl’s Moving Castle in this thrilling middle grade fantasy adventure about a trio of royal siblings who unlock a long-forgotten magical language in their bid to reclaim their stolen throne—from Ember and the Ice Dragons author Heather Fawcett. Perfect for fans of Kelly Barnhill and Robert Beatty. Forced into exile on an enchanted, moving island, ex-princess Noa Marchena has two missions: reclaim her family’s stolen throne and ensure that the dark powers her older brother, Julian, possesses don’t go to his head in the process. But between babysitting her annoying little sister, Mite, and keeping an eye on the cake-loving sea monster that guards the moving island, Noa has her hands full. When the siblings learn that their enemies are searching for a weapon capable of defeating Julian—whose legendary spell weaving is feared throughout the kingdom—once and for all, they vow to get to it first. To everyone’s surprise, the key to victory turns out to be a long-lost magical language—and only Noa can speak it. But what if by helping her brother, Noa ends up losing him?
A stunning middle grade fantasy about a girl who used to be a dragon and her adventure to save her new home—from Even the Darkest Stars author Heather Fawcett. Perfect for fans of the Nevermoor and His Dark Materials series. Ember St. George is a dragon. At least she was before her adoptive father—a powerful but accident-prone Magician—turned her into a human girl to save her life. Unfortunately, Ember’s growing tendency to burst into flames at certain temperatures—not to mention her invisible wings—is making it too dangerous for her to stay in London. The solution: ship Ember off to her aunt’s research station in frigid Antarctica. Though eccentric Aunt Myra takes getting used to, Ember quickly feels at home in a land of ice storms, mischievous penguins, and twenty-four-hour nights. She even finds herself making friends with a girl genius called Nisha and a mysterious orphan named Moss. Then she discovers that Antarctica is home to the Winterglass Hunt, a yearly tradition in which rare ice dragons are hunted for their jeweled scales. Furious, Ember decides to join the hunt to sabotage it from the inside. But being an undercover dragon isn’t easy—especially among dragon hunters. Can a twelve-year-old fire dragon survive the dangers that come her way in the Antarctic wilderness and protect the ice dragons from extinction?
Unexpectedly, the Heaven Realm Lord had cast down a Flowing Fire to destroy the mortal world. Jin Jian had also been wounded by the Flowing Fire, so he sank into the Deep Sea, turned into a floating object, and started cultivating again. What kind of world was the Deep Sea, and what would Jin Jian's fate be like in the mortal world?
Describes how a migrating humpback whale mistakenly entered the San Francisco Bay in 1985 and swam sixty-four miles inland before being led back to the sea by people concerned for his welfare.
Harold Schechter looks at the impossible tales and images of popular art--the space odysseys and extraterrestrial civilizations, the caped crusaders and men of steel, and monsters from the ocean floor--and finds close connections between religious myth and popular entertainment.
Told in their separate voices, sixteen-year-old Prince Oliver, who wants to break free of his fairy-tale existence, and fifteen-year-old Delilah, a loner obsessed with Prince Oliver and the book in which he exists, work together to seek his freedom.
