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A Cafecito Story is a story of love, coffee, birds and hope. It is a beautifully written eco-fable by best-selling author Julia Alvarez. Based on her and her husband's experiences trying to reclaim a small coffee farm in her native Dominican Republic, A Cafecito Story shows how the return to the traditional methods of shade-grown coffee can rehabilitate and rejuvenate the landscape and human culture, while at the same time preserving vital winter habitat for threatened songbirds.
Not a political or environmental polemic, A Cafecito Story is instead a poetic, modern fable about human beings at their best. The challenge of producing coffee is a remarkable test of our ability to live more sustainably, caring for the land, growers, and consumers in an enlightened and just way. Written with Julia Alvarez's deft touch, this is a story that stimulates while it comforts, waking the mind and warming the soul like the first cup of morning coffee. Indeed, this story is best read with a strong cup of organic, shade-grown, fresh-brewed coffee.
Not a political or environmental polemic, A Cafecito Story is instead a poetic, modern fable about human beings at their best. The challenge of producing coffee is a remarkable test of our ability to live more sustainably, caring for the land, growers, and consumers in an enlightened and just way. Written with Julia Alvarez's deft touch, this is a story that stimulates while it comforts, waking the mind and warming the soul like the first cup of morning coffee. Indeed, this story is best read with a strong cup of organic, shade-grown, fresh-brewed coffee.
Whether you're eyeing a hybrid tea you remember from your mother's garden, or one of the new easy-care landscaping varieties, this book makes it easy to add the unmatched beauty of roses to your garden. Inside you'll find:
- Expert advice on choosing the right rose for your space and nurturing it for years of beauty.
- Detailed descriptions of more than 200 varieties of perennials in the illustrated plant encyclopedia.
Presents in question and answer format information about the behavior of a wide variety of creatures, ranging from the paramecium to the chimpanzee.
Hummingbirds and herons, pelicans and pigeons, blackbirds, Blue Jays, goldfinches, redpolls, and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers--these birds and many more flock through the pages of Birdwise, a great kids' introduction to our feathered friends.Did you know that owls can see 100 times better than you can? That a scientist did a mating dance with his whooping crane so that she could lay her eggs? And that you can have fun spotting and looking after the birds in your own neighborhood? This book presents hundreds of fascinating facts and amazing activities that will make you birdwise.Watch birds at home in their nests or in one of the four birdhouses you can build yourself. Observe what different birds eat, and feed them yourself with six special feeders and your own gourmet birdfood. You can even help your feathered friends take baths the way they like: in water and in dust! Starting a feather collection, learning bird songs, birdproofing your windows with a cutout of a hawk, and many more fun projects will keep you wise as an owl.
A highly visual guide to identifying birds in the field based on the important, unchanging features of size, shape, structure, and behavior
Birding is an extremely rewarding and fun hobby, but some situations can be frustrating or unsuccessful because of a variety of challenging viewing conditions. This guide to identifying birds offers the holistic "birding by impression" method, which not only helps with these difficult conditions, but also develops an efficient mental identification process using left- and right-brain skills. It begins with a conscious assessment of a bird's unchanging physical characteristics, including general size, body shape, structural features (bill, legs, neck, and wings), and behavior. Using this approach, birders can quickly assess all birds and distinguish new and uncommon species from familiar ones. They can then examine more detailed field marks to fine-tune the identification. Rather than a traditional field guide, this book presents an interactive how-to approach to a more complete identification process.
Birding is an extremely rewarding and fun hobby, but some situations can be frustrating or unsuccessful because of a variety of challenging viewing conditions. This guide to identifying birds offers the holistic "birding by impression" method, which not only helps with these difficult conditions, but also develops an efficient mental identification process using left- and right-brain skills. It begins with a conscious assessment of a bird's unchanging physical characteristics, including general size, body shape, structural features (bill, legs, neck, and wings), and behavior. Using this approach, birders can quickly assess all birds and distinguish new and uncommon species from familiar ones. They can then examine more detailed field marks to fine-tune the identification. Rather than a traditional field guide, this book presents an interactive how-to approach to a more complete identification process.
Like millions of other people, do you feel frozen in place at the mere mention of climate? Do you want to put your head under a pillow and ignore it all? What if you could understand how important you are to our world? This engaging and understandable book takes a hard look at where we are now in terms of the climate changing, and then walks us through actions each person can take. Expect to come away with a clear and inspiring sense of what you can do.
This year the Huntington celebrates the centennial of its spectacular desert garden, one of the largest such collections of cacti and other succulents in the world. Visitors to the twelve-acre garden marvel at its more than 3,000 species, including the vivid blue and green Puya, a rare type of bromeliad; the Lithops, or "living stone," whose camouflaged leaves mimic the shape and color of rocks; and the dazzling red, orange, and yellow torch-like blooms of the winter-flowering aloe.
In this beautifully illustrated volume, Lyons draws on decades of experience with these unusual specimens to explore the Huntington's desert garden. He tells of its early development, describes its principal collections, and gives instructions on the care and landscaping of desert gardens.
In this beautifully illustrated volume, Lyons draws on decades of experience with these unusual specimens to explore the Huntington's desert garden. He tells of its early development, describes its principal collections, and gives instructions on the care and landscaping of desert gardens.
This newly designed field guide features descriptions of 524 species of butterflies. One hundred color photographs as well as 348 color range maps accompany the species descriptions. The 541 color paintings clearly show even the most minute field marks. Introductory chapters include information on butterfly gardening, habitats, and conservation.
Did you know that each flight feather has one million parts? That birds from different areas have different accents? Overflowing with amazing facts, fun projects, and fascinating legends, this book will entertain and enlighten kids from 9 to 99.
Photographed in full color. Explore the incredible diversity of life in the
sea--from the haunting, hour-long songs of humpback whales to the fantastic
coral colonies that spawn all their young in a single night. "An
"
sea--from the haunting, hour-long songs of humpback whales to the fantastic
coral colonies that spawn all their young in a single night. "An
"
Peterson
The best-selling field guides of all time
To see a fog shrew, should you go to Muir Woods National Monument? If you're planning to visit Yellowstone National Park, what animals can you expect to see? When should a photographer visit to get a shot of a gray fox?
A mammal finder's guide (rather than an identification guide), this book tells you how to look, where to go, and what you are likely to find there. Two main sections provide a choice of looking up information by place or by species: The first includes regions of North America, highlighting the best places to look for mammals. The species-finding guide has accounts of more than four hundred species of mammals, including detailed directions to specific parks, refuges, and other locations; the best times of day (or night) to look; and much more information specific to each mammal.
Sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute
VLADIMIR DINETS has a PhD in zoology and specializes in animal behavior, conservation biology, and the natural history of little-known animals living in remote places.
To learn more, visit www.petersonfieldguides.com or scan here.
The best-selling field guides of all time
To see a fog shrew, should you go to Muir Woods National Monument? If you're planning to visit Yellowstone National Park, what animals can you expect to see? When should a photographer visit to get a shot of a gray fox?
A mammal finder's guide (rather than an identification guide), this book tells you how to look, where to go, and what you are likely to find there. Two main sections provide a choice of looking up information by place or by species: The first includes regions of North America, highlighting the best places to look for mammals. The species-finding guide has accounts of more than four hundred species of mammals, including detailed directions to specific parks, refuges, and other locations; the best times of day (or night) to look; and much more information specific to each mammal.
Sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute
VLADIMIR DINETS has a PhD in zoology and specializes in animal behavior, conservation biology, and the natural history of little-known animals living in remote places.
To learn more, visit www.petersonfieldguides.com or scan here.
There are nearly 1,000 species of freshwater fishes in North America alone, and identifying them can sometimes be a daunting task. In fact, in just the twenty years since publication of the first edition of the Peterson Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes, the number of species has risen by almost 150, including 19 marine invaders and 16 newly established nonnative species. This second edition incorporates all of these new species, plus all-new maps and a collection of new and revised plates. Some of the species can be told apart only by minute differences in coloration or shape, and these beautifully illustrated plates reveal exactly how to distinguish each species.
The guide includes detailed maps and information showing where to locate each species of fish--whether that species can be found in miles-long stretches of river or small pools that cover only dozens of square feet. The ichthyologic world of the twenty-first century is not the same as it was in the twentieth, and this brand-new edition of the definitive field guide to freshwater fishes reflects these many changes.
The most user-friendly butterfly guide ever published, still handy and compact.
- Includes color plates of Mexican-border rarities
- More than 2,300 images of butterflies in natural poses
- Pictorial table of contents
- Convenient one-page index
- Range maps on text pages
- Includes color plates of Mexican-border rarities
- More than 2,300 images of butterflies in natural poses
- Pictorial table of contents
- Convenient one-page index
- Range maps on text pages
This fully illustrated comprehensive 12-book series provides the reader with detailed information on each of the 12 natural cures presented. Sections in each book such as, Conditions and Doses, Re-Thinking Medication, Treatment Know-How, Science Talk and Grow-It-Yourself, offer a complete introduction to the values, practices and benefits of alternative medicine.
Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. According to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores the newly discovered brilliance of birds. As she travels around the world to the most cutting-edge frontiers of research--the distant laboratories of Barbados and New Caledonia, the great tit communities of the United Kingdom and the bowerbird habitats of Australia, the ravaged mid-Atlantic coast after Hurricane Sandy and the warming mountains of central Virginia and the western states--Ackerman not only tells the story of the recently uncovered genius of birds but also delves deeply into the latest findings about the bird brain itself that are shifting our view of what it means to be intelligent. Consider, as Ackerman does, the Clark's nutcracker, a bird that can hide as many as 30,000 seeds over dozens of square miles and remember several months later where it put them, or the mockingbirds and thrashers, species that can store 200 to 2,000 different songs in a brain a thousand times smaller than ours. But beyond highlighting how birds use their unique genius in technical ways, Ackerman points out the impressive social smarts of birds. They deceive and manipulate. They eavesdrop. They give gifts. They kiss to console one another. They blackmail their parents. They alert one another to danger. They summon witnesses to the death of a peer. They may even grieve. This elegant scientific investigation and travelogue weaves personal anecdotes with fascinating science. Ackerman delivers an extraordinary story that will both give readers a new appreciation for the exceptional talents of birds and let them discover what birds can reveal about our changing world. Richly informative and beautifully written, The Genius of Birds celebrates the triumphs of these surprising and fiercely intelligent creatures.
Depicts different kinds of parental behavior among a variety of animals, including the trumpeter swan, mountain goat, and baboon.
Hummingbirds and butterflies are some of the most beautiful visitors to a backyard, but they can also be some of the most elusive. This second collaboration between the Peterson Field Guide series and Bird Watcher's Digest includes tips on how to attract hummingbirds and butterflies to backyards--and how to identify them once they've arrived. Bill Thompson III and Connie Toops have decades of firsthand experience and have written the book in a fun, lighthearted style, providing both amateur and veteran nature watchers with need-to-know information, including where hummingbirds and butterflies live, what they eat, and the best garden plants to attract them. The species profiles of the 15 most common hummingbirds and 40 most common butterflies serve as a field guide, showing ranges, identifying marks, and preferred habitats. Full-color photographs and detailed drawings make attracting, identifying, and feeding these colorful creatures a snap.
Presents a lively collection of ten provocative and profoundly affecting natural history essays and travel narratives from best-selling nature writer William Warner. Original.
This fully illustrated comprehensive 12-book series provides the reader with detailed information on each of the 12 natural cures presented. Sections in each book such as, Conditions and Doses, Re-Thinking Medication, Treatment Know-How, Science Talk and Grow-It-Yourself, offer a complete introduction to the values, practices and benefits of alternative medicine.
This tie-in to the major PBS 8-part prime time television series takes readers on an unforgettable coast-to-coast tour of North America's spectacular natural endowments. It pays tribute to all we've preserved and all that we need to protect, as it celebrates our unsurpassed natural legacy. Each chapter offers a portrait of a different region of the continent. Four-color throughout.
A new-generation reference book about the building blocks of our world, for kids used to surfing and swiping. Small in size but big in personality, stars of movies, TV, and games, penguins are loved by kids everywhere. This book reveals their real lives, far beyond our wildest imagination! Meet every one of the 17 different kinds of penguin; discover how they eat, sleep, talk, walk, and swim, and of course, the wonderful stories of how they look after their eggs and chicks. Big and beautiful Antarctic images, especially shot for this book, are combined with up-to-the-minute information from penguin experts, and dramatic modern graphics to entice confident and reluctant readers alike. And there's lots to do! Be a marine biologist for a day, make and decorate a penguin egg, and track how the diminishing ice is threatening the lives of these fantastic creatures. Pequeños, pero con una gran personalidad, los pingüinos son adorables. Este libro contiene todo lo que deseas saber sobre ellos. Con hermosas imágenes obtenidas específicamente para el mismo.
In Losing the News, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Alex S. Jones offers a probing look at the epochal changes sweeping the media, changes which are eroding the core news that has been the essential food supply of our democracy.
At a time of dazzling technological innovation, Jones says that what stands to be lost is the fact-based reporting that serves as a watchdog over government, holds the powerful accountable, and gives citizens what they need. In a tumultuous new media era, with cutthroat competition and panic over profits, the commitment of the traditional news media to serious news is fading. Indeed, as digital technology shatters the old economic model, the news media is making a painful passage that is taking a toll on journalistic values and standards. Journalistic objectivity and ethics are under assault, as is the bastion of the First Amendment. Jones characterizes himself not as a pessimist about news, but a realist. The breathtaking possibilities that the web offers are undeniable, but at what cost? Pundits and talk show hosts have persuaded Americans that the crisis in news is bias and partisanship. Not so, says Jones. The real crisis is the erosion of the iron core of news, something that hurts Republicans and Democrats alike.
Losing the News depicts an unsettling situation in which the American birthright of fact-based, reported news is in danger. But it is also a call to arms to fight to keep the core of news intact. Praise for the hardcover: "Thoughtful."
--New York Times Book Review "An impassioned call to action to preserve the best of traditional newspaper journalism."
--The San Francisco Chronicle "Must reading for all Americans who care about our country's present and future. Analysis, commentary, scholarship and excellent writing, with a strong, easy-to-follow narrative about why you should care, makes this a candidate for one of the best books of the year."
--Dan Rather
At a time of dazzling technological innovation, Jones says that what stands to be lost is the fact-based reporting that serves as a watchdog over government, holds the powerful accountable, and gives citizens what they need. In a tumultuous new media era, with cutthroat competition and panic over profits, the commitment of the traditional news media to serious news is fading. Indeed, as digital technology shatters the old economic model, the news media is making a painful passage that is taking a toll on journalistic values and standards. Journalistic objectivity and ethics are under assault, as is the bastion of the First Amendment. Jones characterizes himself not as a pessimist about news, but a realist. The breathtaking possibilities that the web offers are undeniable, but at what cost? Pundits and talk show hosts have persuaded Americans that the crisis in news is bias and partisanship. Not so, says Jones. The real crisis is the erosion of the iron core of news, something that hurts Republicans and Democrats alike.
Losing the News depicts an unsettling situation in which the American birthright of fact-based, reported news is in danger. But it is also a call to arms to fight to keep the core of news intact. Praise for the hardcover: "Thoughtful."
--New York Times Book Review "An impassioned call to action to preserve the best of traditional newspaper journalism."
--The San Francisco Chronicle "Must reading for all Americans who care about our country's present and future. Analysis, commentary, scholarship and excellent writing, with a strong, easy-to-follow narrative about why you should care, makes this a candidate for one of the best books of the year."
--Dan Rather
Based on an intensive year-long study of the river and its surrounding regions, this is an engrossing portrait of the river and the people who live along its banks. Along with the stories of the people is the natural history of the river, a river and an ecosystem under seige. Author River Walk tour down the Delaware.
Few animals interest us as much as our relatives the great apes, and among these primates orangutans have a special appeal. The orangutan ("man of the forest" in the Malay language) is highly intelligent, creating and using tools in the wild, solving problems and puzzles in captivity--and manipulating symbols in a way that makes some scientists suspect that this fellow creature might someday master language.
A natural history of orangutans by one of the world's foremost researchers on the species, this book provides an introduction that is at once engagingly accessible and in-depth. Here readers will encounter orangutans, the only great apes in Asia, in their ever-shrinking habitat, the rain forests of Sumatra, Indonesia, and Borneo.
This book delves into their history, their habits, their endangered status, and what studies--many conducted by the author himself--have told us about how orangutans learn, think, and feel.
Penguin the Magpie is the extraordinary true story of recovery, hope, and courage as one injured bird and her human family learn to heal and celebrate life, featuring the gorgeous photography of Cameron Bloom and a captivating narrative by New York Times bestselling author of The Blue Day Book Bradley Trevor Greive. People around the world have fallen in love with Penguin the Magpie, a global social media sensation, and her adventures with her human family. But there is far more to Penguin's story than meets the eye. It all begins when Sam, Cameron Bloom's wife, suffers a near fatal fall that leaves her paralyzed and deeply depressed. One of their three sons, reeling from the tragic accident, discovers an injured magpie chick abandoned after she had fallen from her nest. The boys name the bird Penguin, for her black-and-white plumage. As they nurse Penguin back to health, the incredible joy, playfulness, and strength she exudes fortify the family and especially lift Sam's spirits. Penguin's resilience demonstrates that, however bleak things may seem, compassion, friendship, and support can come from unexpected places ensuring there will always be better days ahead. This plucky little magpie reminds us all that, no matter how lost, fragile, or damaged we feel, accepting the love of others and loving them in return will help to make us whole.
Librarians have come to realize that they still need a quality print encyclopedia. The New Standard Encyclopedia has been vigorously updated for the new millennium and remains an outstanding value for your library or classroom. This resource, available at a fraction of the cost of comparable encyclopedias, compresses the ever-expanding body of human knowledge into a usable and helpful package. It is designed to encourage users to explore as well as sharpen their research skills.
The New Standard Encyclopedia is written in a clear, concise style that allows students of any age to access authoritative information quickly. Our impressive list of authenticators includes more than 500 subject area specialists.
Great family canoeing! Like taking a nature walk on water. Detailed descriptions with maps and photographs, local camping and picnicking, driving, parking, and canoe put-in directions; illustrated nature essays; tips on safety and equipment.
"Alex Wilson will save you hundreds of hours by his accurate, and detailed descriptions". -- Jim Mack, Executive Director, United States Canoe Association
The decline of bird species in a wide range of North American habitats -- forests, prairies, shrublands, mountain regions, marshes, and deserts -- has inspired two decades of intense scientific study of bird ecology and conservation. But for professional scientists and amateur birders alike, interpreting the results of these diverse studies is often complex and bewildering. This accessible book pulls together recent research on bird species and habitats to show how basic ecological principles apply in seemingly different situations. Robert A. Askins provides an engaging introduction to bird ecology and concepts of landscape ecology, focusing on such intriguing species as Bachman's Warbler, Red Crossbill, Mountain Plover, and Marbled Murrelet.
Understanding the ancient landscapes of North America and how humans have changed them, Askins says, is essential for devising plans to protect and restore bird populations. In addition to such obvious changes to the landscape as the clearing of forests and plowing of prairies, more subtle changes also dramatically affect birds. Species may disappear when we interrupt natural disturbances by suppressing wildfires or trapping out beaver, or when we disrupt habitat with roads and housing developments. Askins challenges some of the assumptions that underlie current conservation efforts and offers concrete recommendations, based on sound ecological principles, for protecting the rich natural diversity of North America's birds.
A strategic plan for Pennsylvania to preserve farmland and forests and revive our cities and neighborhoods.
An all-new holistic approach to identifying shorebirds.
Join the experts in birding by impression, a revolutionary approach to bird identification. Experienced birders use the most easily observed characteristics -- size, structure, behavior, and general color patterns -- to identify birds even before looking carefully at plumage details. Now birders at all levels can learn how to identify shorebirds quickly and simply. This guide includes more than 870 stunning color photographs, starting with a general impression of the species and progressing to more detailed images of the bird throughout its life cycle. Quiz questions in the captions will engage and challenge all birders and help them benefit from this simplified, commonsense approach to identification.
One of the New York Public Library's "Books of the Century", with an introduction by Vice President Al Gore -- an environmental call to action over the deleterious effects of pesticides
Spiders: They are exquisitely beautiful and wildly repulsive. They are deadly and beneficial. And they are a source of great fascination--and boundless fear!--to kids of all ages. This wonderfully readable book explores the science and natural history of the spiders' world, taking in arachnids from the exotic black widows and tarantulas to all sorts of everyday and garden variety (literally) species. In an engaging manner, and with plenty of illustrations, Spiders" describes the highly individual life styles, variety, and appearance of these intriguing creatures. Who are their relatives? What are their families? How do they spin their webs? And how do they defend themselves? Spiders" answers all these questions and many more, about "stars" of the arachnid world, like the wolf spider and the brown recluse, as well as the lesser-known but no less interesting species.
The universe speaks in many ways if we develop the ability to hear its voice. Michael Roads brings this message in his account of seven months in Australia where he was led step-by-step to a final wisdom that is remarkable in its simplicity and in its message of hope for all humanity.