Biologist Caroline Van Hemert tells the story of her journey from Washington state to high above the Arctic Circle--traveling across remote and rugged terrain solely by human power--to rediscover birds, the natural world, and her own love of science.

First there was Healing Shine: A Spiritual Assignment. Then, The Trials of Joe Ben Black. And now the life of the grandson of the great Otoe.... The Story of Blue: A Rope Horse. From the pen of Texas writer Michael Johnson, comes the tale of his three teachers, Shine, Joe Ben, and the horse called Blue.

The final book in the Mysteries of Nature trilogy by the New York Times bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben Nature is full of surprises-deciduous trees affect the rotation of the Earth, cranes sabotage the production of Iberian ham, and coniferous forests can make it rain-but what are the processes that drive these incredible phenomena? And why do they matter? In The Secret Wisdom of Nature, master storyteller and international sensation Peter Wohlleben takes listeners on a thought-provoking exploration of the vast natural systems that make life on Earth possible. In this tour of an almost unfathomable world, Wohlleben describes the fascinating interplay between animals and plants and answers such questions as, How do they influence each other? Do lifeforms communicate across species boundaries? and What happens when this finely tuned system gets out of sync? By introducing us to the latest scientific discoveries and recounting his own insights from decades of observing nature, one of the world's most famous foresters shows us how to recapture our sense of awe so we can see the world around us with completely new eyes.

The incredible true story of a woman who rode her horse across America in the 1950s, fulfilling her dying wish to see the Pacific Ocean, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Horse and The Eighty-Dollar Champion. In 1954, Annie Wilkins, a sixty-three-year-old farmer from Maine, embarked on an impossible journey. She had no relatives left, she'd lost her family farm to back taxes, and her doctor had just given her two years to live--but only if she "lived restfully." He offered her a spot in the county's charity home. Instead, she decided she wanted to see the Pacific Ocean just once before she died. She bought a cast-off brown gelding named Tarzan, donned men's dungarees, loaded up her horse, and headed out from Maine in mid-November, hoping to beat the snow. She had no map, no GPS, no phone. But she had her ex-racehorse, her faithful mutt, and her own unfailing belief that Americans would treat a stranger with kindness. Between 1954 and 1956, Annie, Tarzan, and her dog, Depeche Toi, journeyed more than 4,000 miles, through America's big cities and small towns, meeting ordinary people and celebrities--from Andrew Wyeth (who sketched Tarzan) to Art Linkletter and Groucho Marx. She received many offers--a permanent home at a riding stable in New Jersey, a job at a gas station in rural Kentucky, even a marriage proposal from a Wyoming rancher who loved animals as much as she did. As Annie trudged through blizzards, forded rivers, climbed mountains, and clung to the narrow shoulder as cars whipped by her at terrifying speeds, she captured the imagination of an apprehensive Cold War America. At a time when small towns were being bypassed by Eisenhower's brand-new interstate highway system, and the reach and impact of television was just beginning to be understood, Annie and her four-footed companions inspired an outpouring of neighborliness in a rapidly changing world.

"Reading The Possibility Dogs is like taking an amazing literary journey with a dear friend by your side. The characters you meet will enchant you, but the storyteller will capture your heart. If you love dogs, this is a can't-miss book written by a kindred spirit."-Jennifer Arnold, author of Through a Dog's Eyes and In a Dog's Heart After a grisly search-and-rescue operation led to troubling consequences for author Susannah Charleson, she found that her relationship with Puzzle, her search dog, made a surprising contribution to her own healing. Inspired by that experience, Charleson learned to identify abandoned dogs with service potential, plucking them from shelters and training them to work with disabled human partners, to whom the dogs bring assistance, comfort, and hope. Similar to her best-selling first book, Scent of the Missing, Charleson's The Possibility Dogs goes beyond the science that explains working canines to tell the stories of the dogs themselves. Like Merlin, a black Lab puppy who had been thrown away in a garbage bag and now stabilizes his partner's panic attacks. And service dog Jake Piper, a formerly starving pit bull mix who went from abandoned to irreplaceable. This heartwarming combination of memoir and research is sure to both inform and inspire. "What an amazing book. Combine love, knowledge, and real-life drama with pitch-perfect writing, and you'll end up with The Possibility Dogs. Simply brilliant!"-Patricia McConnell, author of The Other End of the Leash "Insightful and earthy, Charleson is never maudlin. She keeps it real...'ll the stories have tremendous heart and power and you believe Charleson when she writes: 'Any dog can surprise you,' and 'great dogs can come in odd packages.'"-Boston Globe

The Polar Bear: Lord of the Great North, the newest effort from award-winning photographer and author Mike Grandmaison, takes its readers on a thrilling expedition in the low Arctic to locate and admire the great white bear in all its majesty. With only his equipment and his perspicacious eye, Mike set out to a unique part the great Canadian wilderness--Manitoba's Churchill region--to track down this fearsome predator in its natural habitat, in order to capture the magnificent photographs featured in this book. This wonderful selection of photos, which are accompanied by fascinating facts relating to these creatures and the Churchill region, is sure to find a cherished place either in the library of the avid wildlife photography enthusiast or on the everyday coffee table.

The protection of animal rights is more than a modern, western phenomenon. In fact, there is a long history of concern for animals around the world, and it is this concern that underlies today's animal rights movement. The No-Nonsense Guide to Animal Rights explains the key issues, charts the growth of the movement, looks at welfare and protection laws, and makes connections between animal rights and other justice struggles. A practical day-to-day guide is included to help readers understand what they can do to minimize the exploitation of animals.

This book is an exploration of what morality means, and what animals can teach us about it. Wild elephants walking along a trail stop and spontaneously try to protect and assist a weak and dying fellow elephant. Laboratory rats, finding other rats caged nearby in distressing circumstances, proceed to rescue them. A chimpanzee in a zoo loses his own life trying to save an unrelated infant who has fallen into a watery moat. The examples above and many others, argues the author, show that our fellow creatures have powerful impulses toward cooperation, generosity, and fairness, even morality. Yet it is commonly held that we Homo sapiens are the only animals with a moral sense, that we are somehow above and apart from "the animals." This book forces us to reexamine what the author calls our "Darwinian narcissism", and it shows the profound connections, the moral continuum, that link humans to many other species. The author shows how much animal behavior follows principles embodied in humanity's ancient moral codes, from the Old Testament rules as expressed in the Ten Commandments to the New Testament principles of attachment through cooperation, kindness, and empathy. Understanding the moral lives of animals offers new insight into our own.

When Shoba Narayan, a writer and cookbook author who had lived for years in Manhattan, moves back to Bangalore with her family, she befriends the milk lady, from whom she buys fresh milk every day. These two women from very different backgrounds bond over not only cows, considered holy in India, but also family, food, and life. After Narayan agrees to buy her milk lady a new cow (she needs one and Narayan can afford it, so why not?), they set off looking for just the right cow. What was at first a simple economic transaction becomes something much more complicated, though never without a hint of slapstick. When Narayan starts dreaming of cows, a little Ayurvedic medicine is in order. (Cow urine tablets, anyone?) When Narayan offers her surprised neighbors fresh cow's milk, we learn about the place of milk in Indian culture. When Narayan wants a cow to bless her house, the spiritual and historical role that cows play in India is explored. In this charming true story about two women and the animal they share, readers are treated to an insider's of view of India. The Milk Lady of Bangalore is also a window into our universal connection to food and its sources, the intricacies of female friendship, and our relationship to all animals.