Archives de catégorie : Nature

DOES EARTH FEEL? de Marc Majewski

A stunning and timely picture book asks fourteen critical questions to encourage active thinking and discussion about our one and only planet.

DOES EARTH FEEL?
14 Questions for Humans
by Marc Majewski
Kathrine Tegen Books/HarperCollins Children’s, February 2021

Does Earth feel calm?

Does Earth feel curious?

Does Earth feel hurt?

Does Earth feel heard?

With spare prose and evocative paintings, author-illustrator Marc Majewski implores readers to think more deeply about what our only planet is telling us, ultimately asking—what do you want Earth to feel?

This compelling narrative follows the planet’s relationship with humans and engages with themes around empathy and environmentalism; a perfect book to spark conversations and inspire a new generation of young leaders.

Marc Majewski is a French illustrator and picture book maker based in Berlin. As a child, Marc spent all his time drawing, writing stories, and dressing up. Things haven’t changed much since. Marc loves painting landscapes and scenes from the natural world. He is the author of several books, including DOES EARTH FEEL? and Butterfly Child, published with HarperCollins.

THE BRILLIANCE OF DOLPHINS de Kelly Jaakkola

A wonderfully informative and entertaining book on how dolphins think, revealing the vast cognitive ability of so many of our animal companions. A book for all readers interested in the latest research on animal intelligence.

THE BRILLIANCE OF DOLPHINS:
Exploring the Curious Minds of the Sea
by Kelly Jaakkola, Ph.D.
Anchor/Doubleday, 2026
(via The Martell Agency)

Perhaps more than any other wild creature, we have long been dazzled by dolphin intelligence and their affecting level of interaction with humans. But what is the nature and dimension of dolphin intelligence? Do they count? Do they have language or anything like it? Can they imitate behavior (even if blindfolded)? How do they coordinate their communication and cooperation?

Writing with insight and wit, Jaakkola will reveal the crucial role of puzzles and games for both researching and challenging dolphins’ minds and take readers behind the scenes of her own research on dolphin cognition to show the logic of how we know what we know, as well as the complexity, humor, and pure thrill that comes from running creative experiments with animals who don’t know your intended script and very clearly have minds of their own. The new information presented enhances our understanding of the inner life of these special creatures, as they actually exist and can thrive in nature, not just in the popular imagination.

Kelly Jaakkola is a cognitive psychologist, marine mammal scientist, and Director of Research for DRC. She earned her Master’s degree in Psychology from Emory University, where she began her career studying cognition in chimpanzees and human children and received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from MIT. Her past research includes studies on number concepts, object permanence, imitation, and communication in dolphins, chimpanzees, and human children. Her current work focuses on dolphin cognition, communication, and welfare.

Dr. Jaakkola’s research has been published in numerous international scientific journals and book chapters, and her work on dolphin cognition has received worldwide coverage in newspapers, magazine articles, books, and television. She has taught courses on human and animal cognition at several colleges and chairs the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums.

FEED THE PLANET de George Steinmetz et Joel K. Bourne Jr.

Acclaimed photographer George Steinmetz documents the awesome global effort that puts food on our tables and transforms the surface of the Earth.

FEED THE PLANET
A Photographic Journey to the World’s Food
Photographs by George Steinmetz; Text by Joel K. Bourne Jr.
Abrams, October 2024

Do you know where your food comes from? To find out, photographer George Steinmetz spent a decade traveling to more than 36 countries, 24 US states, and 5 oceans documenting global food systems. In striking aerial images, he captures the massive scale of 21st–century agriculture that has sculpted 40 percent of the Earth’s landmass. He explores the farming of staples like wheat and rice, the cultivation of vegetables and fruits, fishing and aquaculture, and meat production, showing us both traditional farming in diverse cultures and vast agribusinesses that fuel international trade. From Kansas wheat fields to a shrimp cocktail’s origins in India to cattle stations in Australia larger than some countries, Steinmetz tracks the foods on the world’s tables back to land and sea, field and factory.

With text by veteran environmental journalist Joel K. Bourne Jr., Feed the Planet brings the impact of visual images, accompanied by clear explanations and accurate information, to one of humanity’s deepest needs, greatest pleasures, and most pressing challenges: Bringing nutritious and sustainably produced food to the Earth’s growing population.

George Steinmetz is an award–winning documentary photographer whose large–scale projects on pressing global issues have been published in National Geographic magazine, the New York Times, and many other leading publications. His books for Abrams include The Human Planet (2020), New York Air (2015), Desert Air (2012), Empty Quarter (2009), and African Air (2008). He lives in New Jersey with his wife, journalist Lisa Bannon.

Joel K. Bourne Jr. is an award–winning environmental journalist and the author of The End of Plenty: The Race to Feed a Crowded World (2015). He is a former Senior Editor for the Environment at National Geographic magazine, where he remains a frequent contributor covering agriculture, energy, and environmental issues around the globe. He lives with his family in Wilmington, North Carolina.

DETECTIVE DUCK: THE CASE OF THE STRANGE SPLASH de Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver, and Dan Santat

The first book in a smart and funny new chapter book series from bestselling creators Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver, and Dan Santat.

DETECTIVE DUCK: THE CASE OF THE STRANGE SPLASH
(Detective Duck #1)
by Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver, and Dan Santat
Amulet/Abrams, October 2023

Willow Feathers McBeaver, aka Detective Duck, is a crime-solving (and very precocious) little duck. She and her animal pals live on Dogwood Pond, a beautiful pond in New England adjacent to Lazy Days, a human campground. Dogwood Pond has always been a pristine spot with clear water, abundant wildlife, and shady willow trees, but now it is encountering puzzling problems—mysteries that arise from human-caused disruptions in nature, such as water pollution, refuse, warming climate, and human encroachment.

Fortunately, Detective Duck is on the job, solving these puzzling mysteries before they get out of hand and destroy their habitat! Armed with her ever-present satchel for collecting clues, her logical mind, and endless curiosity, she boldly goes where no pond creature has before, determined to unravel the mysteries and solve any environmental problem that besets her beloved Dogwood Pond!

BOOK 2 coming FALL 2024

Henry Winkler is an Emmy Award–winning actor, writer, director, and producer who has created some of the most iconic TV roles, including Arthur “the Fonz” Fonzarelli on Happy Days and Gene Cousineau on Barry.

Lin Oliver is a children’s book writer and a writer and producer for both TV and film. She is currently the executive director of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). They both live in Los Angeles.

Dan Santat is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 100 books for children, including Are We There Yet, After the Fall, and The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, for which he won the Caldecott Medal. He lives in Southern California with his wife, two kids, and many, many pets.

THE HEARTBEAT OF THE WILD de David Quammen

In this inspiring collection of essays, acclaimed author David Quammen journeys to places where civilization meets raw nature and explores the challenge of balancing the needs of both.

THE HEARTBEAT OF THE WILD:
Dispatches From Landscapes of Wonder, Peril, and Hope
by David Quammen
National Geographic, May 2023
(via Kaplan/DeFiore Rights)

For more than two decades, award-winning science and nature writer David Quammen has traveled to Earth’s most far-flung and fragile destinations, sending back field notes from places caught in the tension between humans and the wild. This illuminating book features 20 of those assignments: elegantly written narratives, originally published in National Geographic magazine and updated for today, telling colorful and impassioned stories from some of the planet’s wildest locales. 
Quammen shares encounters with African elephants, chimpanzees, and gorillas (and their saviors, including Jane Goodall); the salmon of northeastern Russia and the people whose livelihood depends on them; the lions of Kenya and the villagers whose homes border on parks created to preserve the species; and the champions of rewilding efforts in southernmost South America, designed to rescue iconic species including jaguars and macaws.
With a new introduction, afterword, and notes framing each story, Quammen reminds us of the essential role played by wild nature at the heart of the planet.

Three-time winner of the National Magazine Award (the Ellie) and author of 15 books, David Quammen is one of the world’s top nature and science writers. His 2012 book Spillover, which predicted a worldwide pandemic, was shortlisted for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and has made him one of the most sought-after commentators on the coronavirus. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic, The New Yorker, and the New York Times. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.