Books About Animals

Don't Let Them Disappear by Chelsea Clinton

Did you know that blue whales are the largest animals in the world? Or that sea otters wash their paws after every meal? The world is filled with millions of animal species, and all of them are unique and special. Many are on the path to extinction.

In this book, Chelsea Clinton introduces young readers to a selection of endangered animals, sharing what makes them special, and also what threatens them. Taking readers through the course of a day, Don't Let Them Disappear talks about rhinos, tigers, whales, pandas and more, and provides helpful tips on what we all can do to help prevent these animals from disappearing from our world entirely.

The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards

With this book in hand, readers of any age will discover -- just outside their own doors, no matter where they live--a world they never knew existed. Hundreds of stunning photos combined with expert information create an up-close-and-personal tour of the hidden lives of spiders, beetles, butterflies, moths, crickets, dragonflies, damselflies, grasshoppers, aphids, and many other backyard residents. You won't believe your eyes! Each creature is in its natural setting, and many are shown progressing through all of the various stages of their life cycles. This is a one-of-a-kind look at some of life's most fascinating mysteries -- surprising, captivating, and perfect for nature lovers of all ages.

If Polar Bears Disappeared by Lily Williams

The freezing ecosystem in the far north of the globe is home to many different kinds of animals. They can be:

Strong, like a walrus

Tough, like a lemming

Resilient, like an arctic fox

But no arctic animal is as iconic as the polar bear.

Unfortunately, the endangered polar bear is threatened with extinction due to rapid climate change that is causing the ice where it hunts/lives to melt at an alarming rate. If Polar Bears Disappeared uses accessible, charming art to explore what would happen if the sea ice melts, causing the extinction of polar bears, and how it would affect environments around the globe.

The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle

Honeybees are a crucial part of our food chain. As they gather nectar from flowers to make sweet honey, these bees also play an important role in pollination, helping some plants produce fruit. But large numbers of honeybees are disappearing every year . . . and no one knows why. Is a fungus killing them? Could a poor diet be the cause? What about changes to bees' natural habitat? In this real-life science mystery, scientists and beekeepers are working to answer these questions . . . and save the world's honeybees before it's too late.

The Great Shark Rescue: Saving the Whale Sharks by Sandra Markle

Top-selling science author Sandra Markle presents the story of whale sharks―the largest fish on the planet. Facing threats from commercial fishing as well as climate change, they were categorized as endangered in 2016. Find out how scientists are working to study and protect these gentle giants of the ocean.

Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery by Meeg Pincus and Yas Imamura

For decades, as the monarch butterflies swooped through every year like clockwork, people from Canada to the United States to Mexico wondered, "Where do they go?" In 1976 the world learned the answer: after migrating thousands of miles, the monarchs roost by the millions in an oyamel grove in Central Mexico's mountains. But who solved this mystery? Was it the scientist or the American adventurer? The citizen scientists or the teacher or his students? Winged Wonders shows that the mystery could only be solved when they all worked as a team--and reminds readers that there's another monarch mystery today, one that we all must work together to solve.

Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann

Beginning at birth, the honeybee emerges through the wax cap of her cell and is driven to protect and take care of her hive. She cleans the nursery and feeds the larvae and the queen. But is she strong enough to fly? Not yet!

She builds wax comb to store honey, and transfers pollen from other bees into the storage. She defends the hive from invaders. Apis accomplishes all of this before beginning her life outdoors as an adventurer, seeking nectar to bring back to her hive.

Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann describe the life cycle of the hard-working honeybee in this poetically written, thoroughly researched picture book, similar in form and concept to the Sibert and Orbis Pictus award book Giant Squid, complete with stunning gatefold and an essay on the plight of honeybees.

Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild by Catherine Thimmesh

Roughly a thousand years ago, an estimated 23,000 pandas roamed wild and free through their native China. But within the past forty years, more than fifty percent of the panda’s already shrinking habitat has been destroyed by humans, leaving the beautiful and beloved giant panda vulnerable to extinction. Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds—poaching, habitat destruction, pollution, human overpopulation, and global climate change—the panda is making a comeback. How? By humans teaching baby pandas how to be wild and stay wild.