Video of the Week: Baby Tiger

Since we're learning about tigers, endangered animals, and other wildlife this week, here's a video of a baby tiger from The Woodland Park Zoo:

Be sure to check out this list of great wildlife books to learn more about amazing animals like this one!

Book Talk Tuesday: Books for National Wildlife Week

It's National Wildlife Week!  Celebrate animals and the important ways the affect our lives by reading one (or more!) of these great books:

  

Did you ever wonder why there are no high-flying, wall-climbing, tall-building-leaping superheroes in real life? Find out what keeps big animals (like us) from engaging in astonishing feats of strength and agility, and yet why being tiny and all-powerful might have a downside. What if you could lift fifty times your weight (hello, ant), but getting wet could kill you? Or you could soar like a bird, but a cold breeze would do you in? Whether big or small, our size defines more about us than we could ever imagine.

Flies are fast! They can hover, walk upside down, and use their lightning-quick reflexes to escape predators. But rainbow trout, slender lorises, and assassin bugs can catch them. Chimney swifts can, too. How do such diverse creatures manage to capture the same prey? Similar in structure to What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?, this eye-popping picture book introduces readers to a menagerie of animals that approach the same challenges in very different ways.

Eating is a matter of life and death, but it can also be weird, surprising, or just plain gross. Twenty-nine poems explore the unusual and sometimes gruesome eating habits of the animal world.

Kangaroos, koalas, and opossums, oh my! Most marsupials live in Australia, but a few are here in the U.S. Find out how these fascinating and unusual "other" mammals evolved and live.

In 1997, Ted and Betsy Lewin trekked into the Impenetrable Forest in Uganda to see mountain gorillas in the wild. This real-life adventure story is the amazing saga of that trip. At moments funny, exhausting, educational, and enlightening, "Gorilla Walk" is filled with the wonder of nature in general--and of this magnificent animal in particular.

Each year the desert elephants of Mali, West Africa, travel a 300-mile path to search for water. They peacefully pass through the lands of the Tuareg, Dogon, and Fulani people while following the longest migration route of any elephant in the world.  This insightful story with bold, dramatic illustrations shows how people work together to preserve the delicate balance of life in the desert and protect these magnificent elephants.

Feast your eyes on these amazing creatures before they disappear.  This stampede of wild animals, from Chinese Alligator to Grevy's Zebra, are so rare, they're all endangered.  David McLiman's bold and playful illustrations transform each letter into a work of art, graphically rendered with animal characteristics.  Scales, horns, even insect wings transform the alphabet into animated life.  Once you take this eye-opening safari, you'll never look at letters or animals with the same way again.

In this book you will learn that anteaters are always only children and nine-banded armadillos are always born as identical quadruplets. You will also learn that falcons play-hunt in the sky and that hyena cubs fight to the death. This is the perfect book for animal lovers young and old!

This Week in the Library...

March 18th-24th is the National Wildlife Federation's National Wildlife Week!  As we think about how important wildlife is to all of us, we'll be sharing and listening to book talks about some great nonfiction books about animals.

This week, in addition to previewing some other great books, all grade levels will be listening to Can We Save the Tiger by Martin Jenkins.  This book contains lots of great information about endangered species and what we can do to help them.

To learn more about tigers and endangered species, visit some of these great sites:

WWF: Tiger Facts & Future

ARKive's Tiger Facts Page

Or, watch the Tiger Cam from the National Zoo, and see if you can spot any real tigers!

Balarama: A Royal Elephant

Balarama: A Royal Elephant
by Ted and Betsy Lewin

Meet Balarama the Royal Elephant who is leading the celebration on the last day of Dasara in India. His debut as the specially selected chariot carrier is imminent. Will he be successful? Filled with vivid images and fascinating pageantry this book is an amazing tribute to these popular animals.
[Summary from Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List]

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Wild Times at the Bed and Biscuit

Wild Times at the Bed and Biscuit
by Joan Carris

Grandpa Bender along with Ernest the mini pig run The Bed & Biscuit, a boardinghouse for wounded animals. In this second adventure, the local wildlife shelter calls on Grandpa and the animals to nurse a wounded Canada goose, a cranky old muskrat, and two feisty fox kits back to health. When the fox kits run away, Ernest and the residents of The Bed & Biscuit scramble to make sure the wild animals are ready to return to their natural habitat. Will Ernest finally make the kits understand that they only want to help?
[Summary from The Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List]

The Buddy Files: The Case of the Lost Boy

The Buddy Files: The Case of the Lost Boy
by Dori Hillestad Butler

King is a lovable mutt with an unmistakable voice. Although loyal and true to his family, King find himself in the P-O-U-N-D when his owners suddenly vanish. Thankfully, he is rescued, renamed Buddy, and soon smack dab in the middle of another mysterious disappearance when his new master also goes missing. Will Buddy's mental lists of clues and his strong sense of smell be enough to bring Connor home? Follow Buddy's adventures in The Case of the Lost Boy, the first book in "The Buddy Files" series.
[Summary from The Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List]

Book Talk Tuesday: Wild Times At the Bed & Biscuit

For more great book talks, click here!

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Wild Times At the Bed & Biscuit by Joan Carris

Grandpa Bender, the owner of the Bed & Biscuit usually takes care of pets, but since the local animal shelter is being renovated, he's recently taken in some injured wild animals. A Canada goose, who has an arrow through his neck, a pair of fox kits who have been abandoned by their mother, and a cranky muskrat with an infected foot all become guests at the Bed & Biscuit, and Grandpa must find a way to care for them with the help of his own pets, led by Ernest the pig.
Meanwhile, because Grandpa is busy with the wild creatures, Ernest must take over many new responsibilities, including the training of an eager young Scottie puppy, named Sir Walter. Ernest becomes especially concerned when the young pup shows interest in living "wild" like the young foxes!
Wild Times is, in many ways, a good ol' fashioned animal story, but beyond its comforting tale of friendly pets, it's also a story about the importance of caring for all types of animals, domestic and wild, and about caring for one another!