Thematic Lists

Put on your warmest parka, grab your time-travel shoes, and get ready to explore the Ice Age! As you step back to a time beginning some 35,000 years ago, you'll not only unearth ancient artifacts and bones and discover incredible works of art, you'll come up with ideas about how our early ancestors might have lived during this fascinating -- and chilly -- period. As you learn more about the Ice Agers' way of life, you may be surprised by how cleverly they solved their problems. They sewed snug clothing and hunted big game, surviving very well in the icy climate! They also played musical instruments and, most remarkably, invented art. Unearth their bones, sift through their trash piles, uncover their tools and hearths, delve into the darkness of their caves, and enter the fascinating world of the Ice Age!

Mammoths and mastodons roamed the earth for more than a million years, and then suddenly went extinct. What was everyday life like for these colossal cousins of the modern elephant? What did they eat? How did they fit into their Ice Age landscape? Why did they disappear? These questions and more are answered in this fascinating book that presents the latest research, drawing on the recent discovery of a fully frozen baby mammoth-which has allowed scientists to learn more than they ever could have known just from studying bones and fossils. Profusely illustrated, Mammoths and Mastodons features photographs of archaeological digs, scientists at work in the field and in labs, and archival relics. Specially commissioned artwork also brings the story of mammoths and mastodons to life. The book includes a bibliography, a glossary, and an index.

From dinosaurs to Siberian tigers, this title is a superb introduction to creatures that are either extinct, such as the dodo, or those that are under threat. Discover some of the wildest habitats on Earth and the endangered animals that live there. Examine how people are working to save their fellow creatures.
Includes a section entitled "End of the Ice Age"

Surveys human evolution, from the first toolmakers, Australopithecus and Homo habilis, through the Ice Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age, to the beginning of civilization and the first cities

A brother and sister go back in time to the Ice Age and meet Neanderthals

The Ice Age is very cool...for two kids in bathing suits! Jack and Annie nearly freeze when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to the time of cave people and woolly mammoths. But nothing can stop them from having another wild adventure--not even a saber-toothed tiger!

Follows a prehistoric armor-plated mammal through her day as she grazes, fights off a saber tooth tiger, and observes other denizens of her primitive world

Follows Mastodon, an Ice Age elephant, through a day in his precarious prehistoric life

Meet Lyuba--the most perfectly preserved baby mammoth ever discovered! Found lying along a riverside 31,000 years after her birth, Lyuba provides a never-before-seen view of prehistoric life in Siberia. Together with award-winning author Christopher Sloan, kids learn the story of her discovery by the indigenous Nenet people and peak inside Lyuba's mysterious prehistoric world. Readers will join scientists as they recreate Lyuba's life and death using cutting edge science--including paleontology, radiology, and forensic science--and reveal new information about mammoths and their ice age home.

Long ago there lived big cats whose giant teeth make today's cats look tame: sabertooth! Those teeth helped it compete with other predators for a meal of mammoth--or even a tasty human. Then, ten thousand years ago, every last sabertooth disappeared. With only ancient bones--and massive teeth--to guide them, scientists are learning amazing facts about these enormous prehistoric cats. Patrick O'Brien's captivating illustrations, exciting facts, and kid friendly, comics-inspired design will thrill young adventurers.

Join a pack of woolly mammoths as they trek south for the winter, braving fierce storms, deadly predators, and raging rivers while making their slow journey across the gorgeous unspoiled lands of this continent until finally they reach their goal. With the same jouncy and joyous rhythms of her youngest picture book texts, Lisa Wheeler introduces readers to one of the most awesome beasts to ever walk the earth: the massive, hairy--legendary--wonderful woolly mammoth! This factually based book includes an author's note.

Return to the prehistoric era and discover a host of creatures both novel and familiar, from the mysterious trilobite to the famed T. rex. Care to meet a dunkleosteus? An apatosaurus? How about the dragonflyesque meganaura? In a collection that's organized chronologically by epoch and is sure to intrigue everyone from armchair dino enthusiasts to budding paleontologists, David Elliott and Matthew Trueman illuminate some of the most fascinating creatures ever to evolve on the earth. Combining poems both enlightening and artful with illustrations perfect for poring over, this volume ensures fascinating trips back to a time as enthralling and variable as any in our planet's evolutionary history.

The Jarkov mammoth, recently unearthed in Siberia where its remains were buried for more than 20,000 years, is the subject of this in-depth account of the woolly mammoth's existence and extinction. Packed with fascinating facts and full-color action photos of the expedition scientists took to Siberia.

Retells the Indian legend in which the Great Spirit gave the world the cranberry to remind people of their great battle with the mastodons and woolly mammoths.

Discusses how fossilized remains of plants and animals reveal the characteristics of the prehistoric world.

Sam was born and raised in an elephant sanctuary. When a beloved elephant dies giving birth, Sam develops a connection with baby Woolly--who isn't actually an elephant but was cloned from woolly mammoth DNA. And the billionaire genius behind the cloning experiment will stop at nothing to protect his investment. Smart, determined, and loving, Sam stands up to this powerful adversary to protect the sanctuary and her herd. In the best tradition of child-animal friendship stories, Elephant Secret explores the strong and complex bond between Sam and her elephants while offering a fascinating, authentic glimpse into elephant--and human--behavior.

Created in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution and packed with fun facts on fossils, amphibians, sea creatures, woolly mammoths, Neanderthals, insects and more, Dinosaur! will intrigue readers and provide an experience that will redefine natural history for kids. The lost world of velociraptor, stegosaurus, allosaurus, and other prehistoric monsters come to life as never seen before in Dinosaur! Packed with photorealistic computer generated images, detailed cross-sections and cutaways revealing the inner workings of dinosaurs, simple annotations, and clear concise definitions explaining each dinosaur and prehistoric beast at a glance -- Dinosaur! revives the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Eras and brings young readers into the action.

A wild ride in a hot-air balloon lands Echo and his human friends, the Bat Pack, in the mountains where they discover a real, live woolly mammoth--and the poachers who are hunting it

Provides information on the physical characteristics, behavior, and habits of the prehistoric animal known as the woolly mammoth.

Growing to weights of 10 tons and distinguished by enormous curling tusks, mammoths were the largest land animals of the Ice Age. Today, discoveries of mammoth fossils--in places ranging from tar pits and sinkholes to frozen tundra and the bottom of the sea--are expanding our view into the lives of these fascinating giants. In this meticulously researched, clear, and accessible book, award-winning nonfiction author Caroline Arnold describes the natural history of mammoths, highlighting their physical features and adaptation to the environment. Laurie Caple's stunning, scientifically accurate watercolors complement the text and provide an intriguing look at these huge creatures and what the world was like at the time when mammoths walked the earth.

Discusses how the great ice ages began and ended, and what happened to men and animals during and between them

Have you seen a dodo bird recently? Do you have mastodons playing in your back yard? Not likely--these species are both extinct, which means the entire population has died out. More than 99 percent of all species, or about 5 billion, have gone extinct since life first formed on Earth 4.5 billion years ago. Some of those species went extinct at the same time in an event know as a mass extinction. What type of event could cause such a massive die off? This is a question that scientists have asked for decades as they explore the causes of extinction. In Extinction: What Happened to the Dinosaurs, Mastodons, and Dodo Birds? readers ages 9 to 12 learn about the scientific investigative work necessary to answer these questions and find the culprit behind mass extinctions. Follow the scientists as they look at all potential reasons for extinction, including asteroid impacts, massive volcanic eruptions, excessive gases in the atmosphere, climate change, and more.

Is planet Earth flat? Is California an island? Can you mix other metals to make gold? At one time, science supported wild notions like these! But later studies proved these ideas were nonsense. Discover science's biggest mistakes and oddest assumptions about geology and ecology, and see how scientific thought changed over time.
Includes a section entitled "Bundle up : we're headed for another ice age!"

The Great Unknown tells, in words and pictures, the story of one of the most important turning points in the study of natural history. Two hundred years ago, Charles Willson Peale, founder of America's foremost natural history museum, heard that a number of large bones were found buried in a farm field in upstate New York. He journeyed there and, with great effort, excavated and eventually assembled the bones into an almost complete fossil skeleton, only the second in the world. It was the first skeleton ever assembled of what we now call a mastodon. The imposing mastodon skeleton was soon put on display in Peale's museum in Philadelphia. People came from all over to see the huge creature. Not only did Peale's curiosity and determination pave the way for future paleontologists, but his discovery of the mastodon was also pivotal in convincing the public of the reality of extinction.

Looks at twenty-one scientific mysteries covering such topics as biology, astronomy, physics, and geology.
Includes a section entitled "What causes ice ages?"

This program investigates the likelihood of the biggest climate change in more than 10,000 years. Scientist Richard Alley asserts that global warming contributes to record amounts of cold freshwater from glaciers and the Greenland ice sheet being pushed into the North Atlantic, threatening to shut down the Gulf Stream that keeps northern Europe and the U.S. warm and wet. Within a decade, a new ice age could set in, with ice flows off the coast of England, and the River Thames frozen over. The U.S. does not look likely to escape, and the effects may even lead to the destruction of the Amazon jungle

In twelve lectures (each 30 minutes in length), Professor Richard Wolfson discusses various aspects of our changing climate.
Includes a lecture entitled "Ice ages and beyond"

Course covers the making of our planet from the Big Bang, to the formation of the solar system, to the subsequent evolution of Earth. Travel to the center of our planet and out again, charting the geologic forces that churn beneath our feet to push the continents and seafloor.
Includes a lecture entitled "Planetary wobbles and the last Ice Age"