Search results for ""Web of Life Children's Books""

Prairie dogs are dubbed a keystone species for good reason because the burrows they dig are used by dozens of other animals, from insects and spiders to rattlesnakes, salamanders, owls and more. The highly endangered black-footed ferret depends almost completely on prairie dogs for food, and may also live in their abandoned burrows. In addition, prairie dog activity makes the grass areas around their burrows especially nourishing for grazing animals like bison and pronghorn. With up to 150 species associated with prairie dogs, this keystone species plays a pivotal role in keeping the prairie healthy and thriving. Other books in this series: AT HOME WITH THE GOPHER TORTOISE: THE STORY OF A KEYSTONE SPECIES, AT HOME WITH THE BEAVER: THE STORY OF A KEYSTONE SPECIES

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Pikas, tiny rabbit relatives living high in the mountains, serve as an entry point toward understanding the consequences of climate change. Pikas can’t live in temperatures higher than 77 degrees F. As the Earth’s temperature rises, pikas must keep moving higher and higher up the mountains to find a cooler climate in which to live. Everything is connected in the natural world. As the pikas livable habitat decreases, the lives of hawks, falcons, pine martins, foxes and the many other creatures that prey upon pikas are affected. If you are looking for an easily understandable introduction to the consequences of climate change, this is the book for you. Glorious photographs and a well-organized text reveal the key role pikas play in the alpine ecosystem. Helpful diagrams demonstrate the food web that includes this tiny mammal and other plants and animals, also threatened by the changing climate. A glossary, map and list of actions kids can take to help decrease climate change are also included. Free, downloadable activities can be found on the publisher's website.

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Exotic environments like the African savanna have long held a fascination for young readers. This colorful picture book beautifully evokes that realm with images of giraffes, lions, hippos, elephants, and many more animals of the plains. Through cumulative, singsong verse, young readers learn how all living things in this important ecological community rely on one another for their existence. The book brings home the important lesson that when one of these animals or plants is killed off or goes extinct, the web of life is broken. Luminous paintings by Tom Leonard capture the untamed beauty of this timeless, endangered realm.

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Did you know that beaver ponds provide habitat for hundreds if not thousands of life forms?Using their extremely strong teeth, beavers chop down trees to build a dam. The dam creates a pond that is habitat for everything from algae to giant moose. After creating the pond, the beavers build a lodge. The lodge is sometimes used by other animals besides beavers. Muskrats may live inside the lodge either with or without the beavers, or geese may build their nest atop the lodge. The dam itself is used as a bridge to cross the water by deer, ducks or any other number of creatures. The pond is home to numerous life forms. Lily pads grow in the pond and frogs sit on lily pads to catch flies.Learn about the pivotal role beavers play in making all of this life possible. Gorgeous photos and inviting text make AT HOME WITH THE BEAVER: THE STORY OF A KEYSTONE SPECIES a must have for young naturalists hoping to learn more about the interconnectedness of life.Other Books in the Series: AT HOME WITH THE GOPHER TORTOISE: THE STORY OF A KEYSTONE SPECIES, AT HOME WITH THE PRAIRIE DOG: THE STORY OF A KEYSTONE SPECIES

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Living for more than five thousand years, ancient bristlecone pines are the oldest trees on Earth.Interweaving lovely, meticulously drawn pictures with a story line that spans 5,000 years, Alexandra Siy invites young naturalists to explore the secrets of the world’s oldest trees—secrets of the earth’s climate, recorded in their tree rings, and secrets of the bristlecones’ resilience, as a species that lives in the harshest of environments. Recorded in their rings is evidence of a changing planet. A volcano erupts in 2036 BC. In 775, a storm explodes on the sun. Lightning strikes in 1122. And during the 20th century, the temperature increases dramatically. Alexandra Siy’s lyrical text, paired with Marlo Garnsworthy’s meticulously researched mixed media paintings, reveals the life cycle of the mysterious and ancient bristlecone pine.Free, downloadable activities designed to accompany the book are available on the publisher's website. Research, nature, art, vocabulary, and literature activities address Common Core State Standards: ELA/Literacy and Next Generation Science Standards.

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An injured red-tailed hawk can no longer fly free, but her instinct to become a mother is so strong that she hatches and raises two chickens in this true and heartwarming story of interspecies friendship.What happens when two baby chickens find themselves in a nest with a hawk? Don’t hawks usually eat chickens? Sunshine, a red-tailed hawk, can no longer fly free, but her instinct to be a mother is so strong that she builds a nest in her aviary every spring and lays two infertile eggs. One year, Kara, her caretaker, decides to try something different. She gives Sunshine two fertile chicken eggs. Sunshine patiently incubates the eggs, and then they hatch. Will the chickens recognize Sunshine as their mother? Will Sunshine accept the chicks as her own? Join zoologist Kara Hagedorn and Sunshine to find out what happens in this heartwarming story of nurture over nature.Free, downloadable activities designed to accompany the book are available on the publishe

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This story of the madrone and its animal neighbors will both comfort and enchant children as they come to understand the timelessness of nature’s cycles. If ever a tree deserved a love letter, it is the Pacific madrone. Barbara Herkert’s poetic story charts the life swirling around this luminous tree, from eagles to elk to hummingbirds to fungi, as it patiently stands sentinel through the seasons of the Pacific Northwest. Marlo Garnsworthy’s gorgeous paintings bring the tree’s scarlet berries, spangles of white flowers, and curls of russet and green bark to life. The book includes: a map of madrone distribution an animal identification guide further information for parents/teachers free, downloadable curriculum on publisher’s website

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Volcano Dreams leads readers on a tour of Yellowstone National Park, from the wolves, elk, bears, and mountain goats that live there today to the supervolcano that erupted thousands of years ago. Volcano Dreams knits together the vibrancy of the Yellowstone ecosystem with its explosive history, placing the everyday lives of its creatures within the context of geological time. Janet Fox’s poetic text takes us to the root of it all—the “sleeping giant” of magma responsible for the Yellowstone landscape—and Marlo Garnsworthy’s evocative paintings capture the awe of natural forces at work in our nation’s oldest national park.The addendum, “More About Yellowstone and Its Volcano,” a glossary defining geological terms, such as mud pots, steam vents, geysers, magma, and lava, and a map further aid children’s understanding of supervolcanoes.Free, downloadable activit

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The Peregrine's Journey vividly describes one of the most remarkable feats in the animal kingdom. Beginning in Alaska and ending two months later in Argentina, the peregrine falcon's annual migration is an 8,000-mile flight across the Americas. This beautifully illustrated book allows young readers to follow one bird on its journey. Based on the actual migration of a real bird that was tracked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the book is filled with amazing facts about the bird's diet, habits, and navigational abilities, as well as stunning views of the many habitats the peregrine visits along the way.

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Penguins, whales, seals, fish, and many other animals are all part of the food web of Antarctica. Environmentalist author Madeleine Dunphy uses a cumulative approach, combining lyrical verse with repetition, to reveal the interdependency of life in Antarctica. Tom Leonard's vibrant paintings, from the flash of orange on a penguin's beak to iridesent icebergs jutting from the sea, beautifully capture a wondrous miracle--the circle of life. HERE IS ANTARCTICA will fascinate and inspire children as they explore this endangered environment page by page.

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