Environment and Nature Books

Janice Emily Bowers writes from the heart, taking an unflinching look at nature - and herself - reflected in the ecology of Arizona: desert, mountains, peaks and canyons. I felt that I was right along with her on these explorations, and I highly recommend this book for those who enjoy outer - and inner - exploration.

Learn about a family near a Costa Rican rain forest!
I read this excellent bilingual English and Spanish book to my
K-7 Spanish students for Earth Day! The photos make the story come alive! Readers will get a great idea for a birthday present which his or her friend will always remember!

The collaborative effort of Michael J. Chiarappa (Associate Professor of History and Environmental Studies, Western Michigan University) and Kristin M. Szylvian (Associate Professor of History, Western Michigan University), Fish For All is a seminal and scholarly study of the environmental history of the Great Lakes freshwater fisheries. Fish For All reveals how tradition, cultural heritage, economic livelihood, scientific background, and more, have affected the carefully dispensed allocations of these resources in the Great Lakes region. Stressing the importance of building coalition over common concerns such as water pollution, habitat degradation, invasion of exotic species and more, Fish For All is an extensive, varied, and an intrinsically interesting collection of testimonials that combine for a sweeping, comprehensive, and very highly recommended regional environmental history of Great Lakes fish and fisheries.

Luther used to be a football-playing party animal, making bad choices and stealing just to impress his snobby friends from Heartland, Montana. Not anymore, though.

Luther now spends all of his time at the bird vet's house, where he cleans poop, feeds the birds, and flies them -- all under the supervision of the owner, Kay.

When school bully, Warren Juddson, finds out Luther quit the football team to work with the crazy bird lady, temperatures rise and words fly. When the whole team turns against him and maybe even his step-father, as well, Luther has no other place to turn but to the new girl, Alex.

Alex teaches Luther all about the forest fires nearby and how to ride a horse, but when the out-of-control fires get the best of him and his town, he has to choose what to save first: Alex and her belongings, Kay and her bird, his house, or himself. Luther makes a heroic attempt that could change his life forever.

This amazing book by Sneed B. Collard III will grab readers with its stunning real-life topic. A great read!

Reviewed by: Holly

I really enjoyed Flight or Fight. The main character Jane Ray and her two stalwart pals, Amy and Flory, are a very likeable and charming new literary trio. Their adventures in fighting for the rights of animals and the environment prove that even three young girls can make a difference. Uplifting but not sentimental, Flight or Fight is story which shows that nothing is as straight forward as it seems and that help can come from unexpected sources. Author Diane Haynes has also included some real-life facts on rescuing wildlife which are fascinating as well as practical. A great gift for yourself or the tweens and teens in your life.

Cicely Mary Barker's illustrations are botanically accuratedepictions of tree leaves, stems and flowers, but the crowningachievement is the fairy showcased in each. Each illustration is accompanied by a delightful poem that invites the reader to enjoy the beauty and wonder of nature.

This is a wonderful book for a child or anyone interested in botanical drawings or trees.

"...the text is very well written, easy to read and comprehend, interesting in its presentation, practically void of mathematical equations, and contains an excellent reference listing of over 500 publications...I highly recommend this book for anyone working in the water resource field who desires a better understanding of large river systems. All of us can learn from this book, and it will become a valuable addition to one's library, used frequently,and will not sit gathering dust."
- reviewed by Don Phelps, P.E.

This book is amazing, especially considering that the author was only a teenager when she wrote and illustrated it! Young children can enjoy it because of the beautiful illustrations and the story-like quality, while older children can also learn from the facts presented in the book about different creatures that fly. This book is an excellent completion of Ms. Pratt's environmetal alphabet book trilogy. The other two books she has written and illustrated ("A Walk in the Rainforest" and "A Swim Through the Sea") are also wonderful.

In Flying Foxes, Fruit And Blossom Bats Of Australia, two acknowledged authorities on Australia's bats, Leslie Hall and Greg Richards, effective collaborate to produce an informative, illustrated guide to Australia's thirteen species of Megachiroptera -- the "mega" bats. While these bats are nocturnal, they live in forests rather than caves, they navigate by sight rather than radar-like sound reflection (echolocation), and their long snouts and large ears and eyes give them a canine-like appearance and the resultant appellation of "flying foxes". Flying Foxes discusses such controversial matters as these creatures being kept as pets, the management of flying fox populations, and recent incidents of viral diseases being transmitted from the bats to humans. The informative, authoritative, comprehensive text is enhanced with line drawings by Louise Saunders and twenty-nine superbly presented color photographs (including many by acclaimed wildlife photographer, Theo Allofs). A highly recommended addition to exotic wildlife reference collections, Flying Foxes, Fruit And Blossom Bats Of Australia is also available in a trade paperback format (1575241765, $21.50).

Dr. Wittwer is the "godfather" of the greening of planet earth hypothesis, that is, increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are an environmental benefit because of their impact on plant life. His research review is an antidote to fear of catastrophic changes in climate brought on by humankind's CO2 emissions.

It is in vogue to refer to carbon dioxide as a pollutant because it is the inevitable consequence of carbon (fossil fuel, wood, peat) combustion. Dr. Wittwer correctly observes that it is the elixir of life on earth and a universally-free premium because of its stimulation of plant growth, its contribution to water-use efficiency in plants, and the way in which it helps plants resist a variety of environmental stresses. This aspect of the climate change debate has been for too long ignored, overlooked or denigrated.

Thoughtful readers will find the research reviewed by Dr. Wittwer to be extremely compelling. He anticipates his skeptics and makes an overwhelming case firmly rooted in empirical research carried on throughout the world.