Showing titles in Science & Technology

What kind of animal would you be if you had eight eyes? Or if your pupils were the shape of the letter W? Keep an eye out for weird and surprising facts in this playful book, which brings together comparative anatomy with a guessing game format. See how your animal eyes are like—and unlike—those of starfish, spiders, goats, cuttlefish, owls, and slugs. Author Sara Levine presents an insightful view of all eyes can do!

Rocks may seem like boring, static objeRocks may seem like boring, static objects—until you discover that a rock can spark a fire, glow in the dark, and provide shelters of all shapes and sizes. Laura Purdie Salas's lyrical rhyming text shows how rocks decorate and strengthen the world around them.cts—until you discover that a rock can spark a fire, glow in the dark, and provide shelters of all shapes and sizes. Laura Purdie Salas's lyrical rhyming text and Violeta Dabija's glowing illustrations show how rocks decorate and strengthen the world around them.

What dinosaur would you be if you had a bony ridge rising from the back of your skull and three horns poking up from the front? Answer: a triceratops! This book will keep you guessing as you find out how human skeletons are like—and unlike—those of dinosaurs!

Around the world, city highways and country roads have cut through natural spaces. Wild animals are blocked from the resources they need to survive, or must make dangerous crossings across busy roads to get to them. Fortunately, solving this problem has inspired some creative solutions! Take a tour of wildlife crossings across the globe, from grassy badger bridges to underpasses for elephants. Discover how these inventive pathways have saved both animal and human lives and helped preserve ecosystems.

Water, air, sunlight, plants . . . we need these elements to live in this world. But does the world need us? And what would happen to the world if humans were gone? This is the premise of a thought-provoking book from John Coy. His insightful text explores how nature would reclaim the planet. The book gives further context and discusses what kids (and all of us) can do to truly help our planet.

What would you be if your finger bones grew so long that they reached your feet? You'd be a bat! What if you had no leg bones but kept your arm bones? You'd be a whale, a dolphin, or a porpoise! This entertaining book will keep listeners guessing as they learn about how our skeletons are like—and unlike—those of other animals.

Your belly is full of tiny creatures—and they love to eat! Along the river of your gut, tiny creatures move, eat, and grow. Learn more about the garden of microscopic flora growing inside the body and come on a journey that explains an important biological concept: the microbiome, the health of which affects everything in our bodies. Did you know that some foods are better for your microbiome (and you!) than others? The audiobook goes further into the science of the microbiome and reveals amazing facts about the gut.

Do plants really move? Absolutely! You might be surprised by all ways plants can move. Plants might not pick up their roots and walk away, but they definitely don't sit still! Discover the many ways plants (and their seeds) move. Whether it's a sunflower, a Venus flytrap, or an exotic plant like an exploding cucumber, this fascinating book shows just how excitingly active plants really are.

Bacterial infections are a constant threat to human health. Antibiotics stop a bacterial infection from multiplying. They help treat pneumonia, strep throat, and many other infections. But before antibiotics, treatments for these diseases were limited or misguided. In 1929, the accidental discovery of the first antibiotic, a bacteria-killing liquid called penicillin, kicked off a medical revolution. The use of this new treatment has saved countless lives, from World War II soldiers to modern hospital patients. Explore current issues in antibiotics and the best ways to fight bacteria.

Can you find pancakes and pizza crusts in the ocean? The answer might surprise you! Meet some of the wackiest creatures under the sea—creatures that look like food—through engaging text. This funny, informative book introduces listeners to the egg yolk jellyfish, the lettuce sea slug, the chocolate chip sea star, and many more! Accessible language makes this a very fun listen.

For decades, the blasts and howls of the electric guitar have been some of the defining sounds of popular music. But more than a century of effort and innovation had to happen before this instrument went electric. Learn about the master craftspeople who created the guitar as we know it, the inventors who figured out how to send guitar notes through amplifiers and give the guitar a bigger sound, and the musicians whose legendary playing put it at the center of rock 'n' roll.

Video games evolved over decades from simple consoles to cutting-edge entertainment in homes and arcades. In the twenty-first century, they've also become some of the world's most popular apps. Find out more about the technological innovations, major players, and controversies that have made video game history. And from the role of game cartridges to the power of the internet, learn how new inventions keep taking gaming to the next level.

When Angela Haseltine Pozzi found plastic trash polluting the beach near her home, she took action. She formed an organization called Washed Ashore and started gathering trash from beaches and using it to create incredible sculptures of wildlife. These sculptures travel the country to teach people about the importance of these animals—and the problems caused by plastic pollution. Kelly Crull highlights fourteen spectacular sculptures, along with hints to find common objects hidden among the debris. Be inspired to get creative in protecting the world’s oceans!

Earth is home to trillions of germs. But for most of human history, people didn't know germs existed! Healers of the past had different ideas about illnesses and their cures. They blamed illnesses on other causes and sometimes tried dangerous treatments. The invention of tools such as the microscope changed everything, allowing doctors and scientists to see germs and study their effects. This vivid history profiles the people who helped discover germs. Discover the ongoing breakthroughs in research—and germs' surprising benefits for safety and sustainable energy.

Sloths spend most of their lives in trees, and until recently, scientists didn’t know very much about them. But Dr. Rebecca Cliffe was determined to discover their secrets. To find out more, she fitted sloths with special backpacks containing a device to track their activity. She learned how to climb trees in the Costa Rican jungle so she could take sloth hair samples and test their DNA. And she’s helped create sloth crossings and plant trees to ensure the sloths aren’t trapped in shrinking territories. Along the way, she earned the nickname Dr. Sloth.

As the sun sets, night creatures awaken. In their rural backyard, a parent and child camp out, watching as fireflies flicker, bats flap, and rabbits race.

Lena Blackburne loved baseball. He watched it, he played it, he coached it. But he didn't love the ways players broke in new baseballs. Tired of soggy, blackened, stinky baseballs, he found a better way. Thanks to a well-timed fishing trip and a top-secret mud recipe, Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud was born. For seventy-five years, baseball teams have used Lena's magic mud to prepare baseballs before every game. Listen to the story of how Lena's mud went from a riverbank to the major leagues and all the way to the Hall of Fame.

Why should the bright and flashy animals get all of the attention? If you look closely at some seemingly ordinary animals, you may find a colorful surprise. A lizard is brown. A hippo is gray. But wait! The lizard has a blue tongue to scare predators, and the hippo has pink "sweat" that protects it from the sun! Enjoy author Jane Park's rhyming nonfiction text in this playful exploration of animals' hidden colors.

Cell phones allowed people to connect on the go, and smartphones have transformed the way we share information. From the earliest landlines to the minicomputers that link people across the world, discover the shifts in phone technology that shaped modern communication—and the people who made them happen. This history also shows the big changes in design, size, and battery life that took place before mobile phones hit the center of popular culture.

Vaccines have been used to safely introduce people's bodies to diseases for centuries, and they save millions of lives each year. By giving people a weakened or dead version of a disease, a vaccine allows the body to develop antibodies which recognize and fight the disease later on. Early vaccinations used dry scabs from smallpox to promote smallpox immunity. Doctors and scientists across nations took and improved the method, developing vaccines for health crises from whooping cough to polio to COVID-19. This history features famous cases and current challenges.