The Humane Gardener

Author: Nancy Lawson
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 1616896175
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Book Description
In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.

The Calls of Frogs and Toads

Author: Lang Elliott
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 9780811729680
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 76

Book Description
These superb collections of field recordings and descriptions offer unparalleled access to the sounds and calls of numerous popular and less well known birds and amphibians. Each book and CD provides an introduction to the sound repertoire of species living in eastern and central North America--a variety of calls from each species are included, along with an in-depth description and explanation of their significance. In addition to color photographs of the most common species, the text offers a fascinating look at the science of avian and amphibian calls, making these guides indispensable aids for the outdoor enthusiast.

Facing Unpleasant Facts

Author: George Orwell
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0547417764
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Book Description
Essays by the author of 1984 on topics from “remembrances of working in a bookshop [to] recollections of fighting in the Spanish Civil War” (Publishers Weekly). George Orwell was first and foremost an essayist, producing throughout his life an extraordinary array of short nonfiction that reflected—and illuminated—the fraught times in which he lived. “As soon as he began to write something,” comments George Packer in his foreword, “it was as natural for Orwell to propose, generalize, qualify, argue, judge—in short, to think—as it was for Yeats to versify or Dickens to invent.” Facing Unpleasant Facts charts Orwell’s development as a master of the narrative-essay form and unites such classics as “Shooting an Elephant” with lesser-known journalism and passages from his wartime diary. Whether detailing the horrors of Orwell’s boyhood in an English boarding school or bringing to life the sights, sounds, and smells of the Spanish Civil War, these essays weave together the personal and the political in an unmistakable style that is at once plainspoken and brilliantly complex. “Best known for his late-career classics Animal Farm and 1984, George Orwell—who used his given name, Eric Blair, in the earliest pieces of this collection aimed at the aficionado as well as the general reader—was above all a polemicist of the first rank. Organized chronologically, from 1931 through the late 1940s, these in-your-face writings showcase the power of this literary form.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

The Toad

Author: Elise Gravel
Publisher: Tundra Books
ISBN: 177049667X
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 34

Book Description
She's good for the environment... and she's disgusting! Distinctive trait: Warts Food preference: Bugs and worms Special talent: Eating her own skin Disgusting? Yes, but fun, too! The Toad is the next installment of the Disgusting Critter series. Hilarious illustrated non-fiction about toads perfect for beginning readers. Although silly and off-the-wall, The Toad contains factual information that will both amuse and teach at the same time.

The Frogs and Toads of North America

Author: Lang Elliott
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780618663996
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
Covering all 101 species of frogs in the United States and Canada, this book contains natural history information, identification tips, range and habitat information, summaries of behavior, and descriptions of calls. A 70-minute audio compact disc includes the calls of nearly every species.

In Defence of English Cooking

Author: George Orwell
Publisher: Penguin Canada
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 70

Book Description
In May 2005 Penguin will publish 70 unique titles to celebrate the company's 70th birthday. The titles in the Pocket Penguins series are emblematic of the renowned breadth of quality of the Penguin list and will hark back to Penguin founder Allen Lane's vision of good books for all'. political thinkers of the twentieth century, he is also the author of the bestselling Penguin title of all time: Animal Farm first published in Penguin in 1951. These heartfelt essays demonstrate Orwell's wide-ranging appeal, and range from political manifesto to affectionate consideration of what being English truly means.

Cane Toad Wars

Author: Rick Shine
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520967984
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
In 1935, an Australian government agency imported 101 specimens of the Central and South American Cane Toad in an attempt to manage insects that were decimating sugar-cane harvests. In Australia the Cane Toad adapted and evolved with abandon, voraciously consuming native wildlife and killing predators with its lethal skin toxin. Today, hundreds of millions of Cane Toads have spread across the northern part of Australia and continue to move westward. The humble Cane Toad has become a national villain. Cane Toad Wars chronicles the work of intrepid scientist Rick Shine, who has been documenting the toad’s ecological impact in Australia and seeking to buffer it. Despite predictions of devastation in the wake of advancing toad hordes, the author’s research reveals a more complex and nuanced story. A firsthand account of a perplexing ecological problem and an important exploration of how we measure evolutionary change and ecological resilience, this book makes an effective case for the value of long-term natural history research in informing conservation practice.

The Book of Frogs

Author: Tim Halliday
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022618479X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 657

Book Description
“A huge, beautiful compendium of 600 frogs from around the world, from the famed poison-arrow variety on up to the intriguingly named plaintive rain frog.” —Wired With over 7,000 known species, frogs display a stunning array of forms and behaviors. A single gram of the toxin produced by the skin of the Golden Poison Frog can kill 100,000 people. Male Darwin’s Frogs carry their tadpoles in their vocal sacs for sixty days before coughing them out into the world. The Wood Frogs of North America freeze every winter, reanimating in the spring from the glucose and urea that prevent cell collapse. The Book of Frogs commemorates the diversity and magnificence of all of these creatures, and many more. Six hundred of nature’s most fascinating frog species are displayed, with each entry including a distribution map, sketches of the frogs, species identification, natural history, and conservation status. Life-size color photos show the frogs at their actual size—including the colossal seven-pound Goliath Frog. Accessibly written by expert Tim Halliday and containing the most up-to-date information, The Book of Frogs will captivate both veteran researchers and amateur herpetologists. As frogs increasingly make headlines for their troubling worldwide decline, the importance of these fascinating creatures to their ecosystems remains underappreciated. The Book of Frogs brings readers face to face with six hundred astonishingly unique and irreplaceable species that display a diverse array of adaptations to habitats that are under threat of destruction throughout the world. “If you are a serious (and I mean serious) fan of the frog, you are in for a real treat.” —Boing Boing

Can You Tell a Frog from a Toad?

Author: Buffy Silverman
Publisher: Lerner Publications
ISBN: 0761367322
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36

Book Description
Presents information on how to tell the difference between frogs and toads, even though they are similar in many ways.

Smothered Under Journalism 1946

Author: George Orwell
Publisher: Harvill Secker
ISBN: 9780436205569
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 547

Book Description
Journalism took a heavy toll on Orwell in the first months of 1946. Despite this unremitting pressure, he produced a major sequence of articles on "The Intellectual Revolt," and wrote one of his finest short essays, "Some Thoughts on the Common Toad." He wrote two radio plays for the BBC, and a pamphlet for the British Council, all of which are printed here for the first time. Orwell renewed contact with Yvonne Davet, he corresponded with Ihor Szewczenko, he tried to get Victor Serge's memoirs published in English, and he attempted to expose Soviet responsibility for the massacre of the Poles by arranging for a translation of Joseph Czapski's Souvenirs de Starobielsk to be published.