Life Cycles (Arbordale Publishing)

Follow this photographic journal of a red fox as he explores the world around him during the first few months of his life. He's about a month old when he first comes out of the den. Watch as he learns to hunt through play and by using his senses. See the changes as he grows from a young kit to a young fox. After all, by the next summer, he'll have kits of his own! Naturalist photographer and environmental educator Mary Holland has captured Ferdinand Fox's First Summer in a way that is sure to grab children's hearts. This nonfiction picture book with a cuddle factor includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 40-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Ferdinand Fox's First Summer is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension. Tap animals and other things that make noise to hear their sounds.

One cold, rainy, spring night, a young girl and her scientist father participate in "Salamander Night" to follow hundreds of spotted salamanders as they venture into a vernal pool to mate and lay eggs. Together, the father-child team studies the salamanders through their complete amphibian metamorphosis, culminating in the adult salamanders' disappearance into the woods in late summer. In easy-to-understand text, the girl relates the tale through her illustrated, photographic journal. This fictional story includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 34-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Salamander Season is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension. "Seamlessly woven in are: information on local conservation actions for salamanders and their habitat- vernal pools; a timeline for salamander development; the idea of becoming a scientist; annual cycle; food webs; and more. - Science Books & Films

Along a stream a dam pops out of the water. Beavers are busy at work! These aquatic mammals have unique traits that aid them in building the perfect lodge to raise young beavers and keep predators away. Mary Holland's vibrant photographs document the beavers' activities through the course of a year. Do these beavers ever take a break? Follow along as they pop through the winter ice to begin the busy year of eating bark, building dams and gathering food just in time for winter to come again.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a wolf? What would you do in the cold winter months? Where would you sleep? What would you eat? Spend a year in the world of wolves in One Wolf Howls. This adventurous children's book uses the months of the year and the numbers 1 through 12 to introduce children to the behavior of wolves in natural settings. The lively, realistic illustrations of Susan Detwiler complement the rhyming text and bring each month to life. From January to December, howl, frolic, and dance, while learning important lessons page-by-page! The "For Creative Minds" learning section includes a "Wolf Communications Matching" and "Wolf Calendar" activity. This nonfiction picture book with a cuddle factor and rhyming text includes a 5-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 46-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. One Wolf Howls is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.