I've been lucky enough to see Michael Caduto perform theseNative stories in person. He brings Native beliefs to life inunexpected and delightful ways. The stories he and Josheph Bruchac have put together here do the same thing. They give young readers a chance to explore Native cultures while they learn and enjoy the stories! In addition to Native tales, this book provides factual information and activities on nature and animals. It's an outstanding resource for teachers, parents, and kids of all ages.

I am an adult, former president of an animal welfare group that stresses humane education and information. This is the best all around dog book for children and for adults who have either never had a dog and are thinking of getting one (adopt from an animal shelter or humane group, please!) or who want to learn more about dogs.

I have had dogs and read dog books all my life, and I learned some interesting and fun things from this book. Besides being very informative and accurate, this book is one of those rare ones that people actually read (versus buying with the intent to do so some day).

It is filled with short informational boxes, covers everything lightly from the evolution of the dog to how to understand what a dog is trying to tell you! I have had 9 year old boys read it from cover to cover, a rare thing. Lots of photos, tips, and information. I recommend it to all dog owners and lovers.

I purchased this book shortly after it was first published ... and read and reread it numerous times, always enjoying the experience and always picking up a new tidbit of information that I had previously missed. The photography is excellent ... it makes you feel like you are there with the loons ... transported to a beautiful, peaceful place.

First published in 1940, this is a story of a poor Irish family and community.

The discovery of geomagnetic field reversals has been one of the most significant findings of paleomagnetism. The development of the Geomagnetic Polarity Timescale has led to it becoming an important dating tool. Analysis of the statistical properties of this timescale has led to some of the most effective observational constraints on geodynamo theory. The book provides and in-depth review of the development and implications of this fascinating aspect of paleomagnetism.

Three internationally recognized experts in geomagnetism and paleomagnetism have combined to create a unique text that integrates these topics with dynamo theory. The text is written in such a way that readers with a background in any one of these fields can appreciate and understand related topics in the other disciplines. A comprehensive introduction is given to each topic, which is then carried through to a current state-of-the-art review. Although some of the advanced aspects of dynamo theory require a thorough mathematical background, the development in the book is done in such a way that most of the material should be accessible to those without a strong mathematical background.

This tour de force historical perspective of nature leads the reader into a provocative search for understanding the human role on Earth. Not for the narrow-minded and/or Jerry Falwell.

Monterey Bay within Us

by Nick Pierotti

It is said that we all come originally from the Sea, and that one day, like the racing waters of the streams, we will all return. For we all live downstream. That is why we must pay careful attention to the Sea, for our well-being depends ultimately upon the health of this ancient water. Perhaps we feel this way because, not only is our blood chemically similar to seawater, but our bloodstreams surge with the same ancient rhythms. That is why it is so important for us to stay in touch with this ever-present miracle that we dwell beside, and stay educated in its subtleties.

Nowhere is our great interconnection with all life better represented than in the web of the Sea, and nowhere is this great web better displayed and described than in the halls of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The aquarium is, first of all, a fun trip, but the things seen and the lessons learned run much deeper. You get to put your hands in the salty water, and touch the creatures that dwell in the watery realms. You are allowed to know many creatures that we are used to seeing from above, or from on the shore; and get to know them from underneath, and from next to them, separated from the sea's blue surge by a mere wall of glass. Into dark undersea caverns you dive and tunnel, communing with giant octopi, locking eyes with cuttlefish who stare you down with their ancient eyes and prehistoric wisdom. You watch live sand dollars in their sandy beds, and sea anemones waving their fluorescent feelers. Pelagic barnacles, attached to far-floating buoys, filter off tiny creatures that you cannot even see, through delicate combs. Sea turtles drift, and jellyfish spin and bob like strings of lights dancing before your astonished eyes. The black depths of the deep Monterey Canyon are revealed to you, full of astonishing creatures that gleam and glow with their own light.

And in the outer bay, endless schools of tuna and mackerel and sardines and sharks perform their primeval round dance, ceaselessly circling, hypnotizing you with their bright and glittering armor.

It is appropriate, that on the very spot where ol' "Doc" Ricketts, who was memorialized by Steinbeck in "The Log from the Sea of Cortez," once collected tidepool creatures and studied them in a small, makeship lab, that there should be erected a great memorial to the Sea, and to its miraculous and multifarious creatures. And that on a street made famous during the early years of this century for its Sardine Canneries, again described by Steinbeck, as "a stink, and a noise," that we should be graced with the sight of living, swimming sardines, and reminded that the sea is all about life, and not death.

How fabulous it is that there is a place, where families can voyage to together, and learn all about the great dynamic body of water that we all make our homes beside. And that we have a resource that explains and illuminates this great mystery, the mystery that we feel when we listen to the great murmuring waters, and to the tumble and crash of surf, and feel the icy torrent of brine that surges over our bare toes at the beach. For we are all of one earth, but our hearts beat to the sea surge of the great Pacific Ocean.

Before reading this book all the racing I had previously done had been in my local area. Thanks to this excellant book I have all the info. that I need to plan out of town races. With the result that I have recently ran top class races such as "Bolder Boulder", "Bix7", "Beach to Bay Relay", "Michael Forbes Trolley Run". Can anybody tell when the next edition will be coming out?

This book got me down on the ground to peer up into the cupped flowers of my hellebores to study their pollination structures and set me on stake-out around my crocuses to see who came to pollinate them. Just as The Natural History of Pollination predicted, the first honeybee of the season moved from the chalice of one crocus to the next and to the next, checking out but passing over the intervening primrose, hellebore and Oregon grape flowers. The crocus has an agenda, the bee has an agenda, and I enjoyed an early spring day in the garden more because I had more insight into their agendas. This detailed book is accessible to anyone with a basic science vocabulary and is richly illustrated with photos of plants and their pollinators, as well as helpful line drawings. I recommend this to any gardener who wants to deepen their understanding of what's going on in their garden and to any student of natural history who wants to better appreciate the complex coevolutionary dance around us. This book has made me more attentive to a world of wasps and tiny flies, and to the myriad bee species. It has helped me see flowers from the point of view of the pollinators essential to them: insects, bats and hummingbirds. Those charming dots of color on foxgloves and hellebores serve as landing guidelines for bees. The sweet perfumes of lilac and honeysuckle seduce butterflies. The carrion odor of jack-in-the-pulpit and arum lilies attracts flies. My wild ginger imitates the scent of a fungus on which a certain kind of fly lays its eggs, luring this pollinator to its flowers. And how about those white flowers that open in the evening to draw moths? I keep this book handy as new plants come into bloom, so I can appreciate them better as I understand their strategies for reproducing themselves.

Michael Tobias is one of the most eloquent and brilliant voices on the front lines of the war for the protection of our planet. This book will amaze you and, hopefully, motivate you to action. Buy two copies, as you'll want to share one with a friend!