Melissa Stewart

Everyone knows about animals that hibernate in the winter. But it's time to discover animals that sleep all summer long! All science classrooms discuss animals that hibernate during winter months, but few know about animals that estivate--a prolonged sleep during hot or dry periods. Dual layers of text awaken readers to the reasons estivating animals become dormant--whether it's because warm weather threatens food supply or to avoid increased body temperatures. From the ladybug to the salamander, from the lungfish to the desert hedgehog, twelve estivating animals and their habits--both when sleeping and awake--are explained through clear text and elegant watercolor illustrations that create a scrapbook feel.

Animals That Estivate

Summertime Sleepers

Jessica Lanan

Under the glow of a shimmering moon, creatures great and small creep out of their dens, using its light to hunt, fend off predators, build their nests or build families. As the moon changes phases these animals adapt their behavior to match its waxing and waning—while human animals look on in wonder.

As Earth's closest companion in space, the moon has fascinated humankind for generations, and this nonfiction picture book sheds light on the mysterious ways it affects life on Earth. With luminous illustrations by Jessica Lanan and a lyrical text that is part lullaby and part scientific resource, Thank You, Moon is a treasure for all ages to enjoy.

Celebrating Nature's Nightlight

Thank You, Moon

National Geographic Kids

Titanic

National Geographic Kids Readers

Dolphins

Pre-reader Ready to read, Level 1 Starting to read, Reading independently, Level 2 books are perfect for kids who are ready for longer sentences and more complex vocabulary. New words are defined on the page, but occasional adult help might be welcome. Level 3 Fluent reader, Be a National Geographic Super Reader!, Earn Awesome Prizes, Play Brain-Busting Games, Take Crazy Quizzes, Have Totally Outrageous Fun!. Book jacket.

Deadly Predators

Explore 12 species that you hope you'll never come across, from sharks, snakes, jellyfish, bears, tigers and mosquitoes.

Deadliest Animals

Prolific, award-winning nonfiction author Melissa Stewart reveals the surprising ways seashells provide more than shelter to the mollusks that inhabit them. Young naturalists discover thirteen seashells in this elegant introduction to the remarkable versatility of shells. Dual-layered text highlights how shells provide more than a protective home in this expository nonfiction exploration. The informative secondary text underscores characteristics specific to each shell. Elegant watercolor illustrations create a scrapbook feel, depicting children from around the world observing and sketching seashells across shores.

More Than a Home

Seashells

"Explains to young readers how to tell the difference between frogs and toads"--Provided by publisher.

How Do You Know?

Frog or Toad?

Describes how the characteristics of some animals that may appear to be weaknesses are critical for finding food or staying safe, from the size of the Amau frog to the stink of the hoatzin's feathers.

Celebrating Animal Underdogs

Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers

Alligators and crocodiles may look the same to you, but you might be surprised to learn just how different these animals are. Readers get a close up look at the differences between these animals with brilliant color photographs. This appealing new book will show young readers that alligators and crocodiles are not as similar as they appear. A perfect and exciting book for nonfiction reading, too.

Alligator or Crocodile?

This fascinating nonfiction picture book filled with stunning illustrations details the end of life for a whale, also known as a whale fall, when its body sinks to the ocean floor and becomes an energy-rich food source for organisms living in the deep sea. When a whale dies, its massive body silently sinks down, down, through the inky darkness, finally coming to rest on the silty seafloor. For the whale, it's the end of a 70-year-long life. But for a little-known community of deep-sea dwellers, it's a new beginning. First come the hungry hagfish, which can smell the whale from miles around. Then the sleeper sharks begin their prowl, feasting on skin and blubber. After about six months, the meat is gone. Year after year, decade after decade, the whale nourishes all kinds of organisms from zombie worms to squat lobsters to deep-sea microbes. This completely fascinating real-life phenomenon is brought to vivid and poetic life by nonfiction master Melissa Stewart and acclaimed illustrator Rob Dunlavey.

Exploring an Ocean-Floor Ecosystem

Whale Fall

Provides information about the Earth's water, including rivers, lakes, oceans, the water cycle, climate, water pollution, and conservation.

Water

Explores the body's secrets of hands, feet, arms, and legs in a fresh, innovative way.

The Secrets of Hands, Feet, Arms, and Legs

Give Me a Hand

Nancy Chesley

A teacher's guide to using fiction and nonfiction picture books to teach life sciences.

Using Fiction & Nonfiction Picture Books to Teach Life Science, K-2

Perfect Pairs

Ants are everywhere. They creep, they crawl, they climb, and they fall. But they get up and they keep on working. Ants come in all different shapes, different sizes, and different colors. And they do a lot of different jobs. These hard-working little creatures thrive wherever they go, making whatever adaptations necessary in their ever-changing world. National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources. Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.

National Geographic Readers: Ants

From award-winning author Melissa Stewart and Caldecott honoree Steve Jenkins comes a noisy nonfiction exploration of the many sounds animals make. Can an aardvark bark? No, but it can grunt. Lots of other animals grunt too… Barks, grunts, squeals—animals make all kinds of sounds to communicate and express themselves. With a growling salamander and a whining porcupine, bellowing giraffes and laughing gorillas, this boisterous book is chock-full of fun and interesting facts and is sure to be a favorite of even the youngest animal enthusiasts.

Can an Aardvark Bark?

Allen Young

Read Along or Enhanced eBook: Everyone loves chocolate, right? But how many people actually know where chocolate comes from? How it’s made? Or that monkeys do their part to help this delicious sweet exist? This delectable dessert comes from cocoa beans, which grow on cocoa trees in tropical rain forests. But those trees couldn’t survive without the help of a menagerie of rain forest critters: a pollen-sucking midge, an aphid-munching anole lizard, brain-eating coffin fly maggots—they all pitch in to help the cocoa tree survive. A secondary layer of text delves deeper into statements such as "Cocoa flowers can’t bloom without cocoa leaves . . . and maggots," explaining the interdependence of the plants and animals in the tropical rain forests. Two wise-cracking bookworms appear on every page, adding humor and further commentary, making this book accessible to readers of different ages and reading levels. Back matter includes information about cocoa farming and rain forest preservation, as well as an author’s note.

Read Along or Enhanced eBook

No Monkeys, No Chocolate

A cozy look at the amazing ways animals behave and interact with their environments on a snowy day. When snow falls, we go home where it is warm and safe. But what about all those animals out there in the forests and fields? What do they do when snow blankets the ground? Award-winning science writer Melissa Stewart offers a lyrical tour of a variety of habitats, providing young readers with vivid glimpses of animals as they live out the winter beneath the snow and ice. Constance R. Bergum's glowing watercolors perfectly capture the wonder and magic that can happen under the snow.

Under the Snow

Provides an overview of crystals including their structure and composition, history, significance, and uses throughout the world.

Melissa Stewart

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