NEW LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS FOR MEMBERS' LENDING
January -- 2001

California Academy of Sciences Library

Books
Children's Books
Multimedia & Audio/Visual
Curriculum Guides

BOOKS

Pub. S494.5 .B563 L37 1998
Against the Grain: Biotechnology and the Corporate Takeover of Your Food / Marc Lappé, Ph.D. and Britt Bailey.
Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 1998.
Lappé, a doctorate in Experimental Psychology and Director of the Center for Ethics and Toxics (CETOS), and Bailey, a Master in Policy Policy and a research associate at CETOS, have put together a compelling volume about the science and politics behind genetically engineered foods. "Their contention, thoroughly documented with facts and citations, is that the quest for corporate profits has ridden roughshod over questions of public health, freedom of choice and ecological stability."
Notes are included at the end of each chapter. A glossary and an index are also presented.

Pub. GF8 .A7 1999
At Home on the Earth: Becoming Native to Our Place / Edited by David Landis Barnhill.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999.
This volume contains essays from contemporary American writers on discovering a sense of place. The collection, a multicultural anthology, includes essays by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and women. The book is divided into two sections: Living in Place, and Places to Live. Authors of the essays include Sue Hubbell and Alice Walker.

Pub. BF637 .M4 K56 1997
Becomings: A Unique Experience of Our Earth / Ellie King.
Aurora, Ohio: Moonwillow Press, 1997.
The reader can use this book to learn to visualize nature through different habitats and different animals. The relaxation techniques allow you to become a part of what you're thinking about. The book also encourages you to record your own experiences.
The volume also recommends books on visualization and nature books of interest.

Pub. GE149 .H47 1998
Earth Odyssey: Around the World in Search of Our Environmental Future / Mark Hertsgaard.
New York: Broadway Books, 1998.
An investigative journalist, the author spent time over a decade traveling the world and learning about pollution and the environment. During that time, he saw population growth and environmental deterioration, but he did not lose hope. His book is considered by some to be a mesh of travel writing and analysis. Through the analysis of his travels, he tries to answer the question, "Will our species survive the environmental depredations committed by global capitalism and heavy industrial socialism -- and, if so, how?" In the epilogue, Hertsgaard reminds the reader that no one knows if the damage inflicted so far is irreversible. However, we do know that if we do nothing, we will lose.
The book contains notes by chapter and an index.

Pub. QH81 .L595 2000
Keeping a Nature Journal: Discovering a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You / Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth.
Pownal, VT: Storey Books, 2000.
Would you like to develop skills in observing, sketching, writing, and appreciating? This book might provide you with a way to develop those skills, and more! A nature journal is a way of recording observations, perceptions, and feelings about the world around you. It is a way to connect with nature through prose, poetry, sketching, painting, music, and sound recordings.
Divided into three sections -- Getting Started, Journaling Through the Seasons, Learning and Teaching Nature Journaling -- the book contains the basic information you need to know, information on equipment, , how to record observations, tips and lessons on drawing, where to go journaling, and much, much more. The book also includes a guide to suggested reading, resource, recommended nature journalists, and an index.

Pub. GE170 .P45 1999
People, Plants, & Justice: The Politics of Nature Conservation / Edited by Charles Zerner.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
Fifteen individually written chapters, thirteen of them case studies, are presented in this volume. Influences from fields as diverse as history, anthropology, sociology, literature, and law are used to examine and question our thoughts on the current state of organized conservation, and new ways in which seekers of justice can combine their work with conservationists. The original cases included in the volumes come from Asia, Central and South America, Africa, and the Pacific.
Maps, references, and an index are included.

Pub. QH75 .P493 1994
Place of the Wild: A Wildlands Anthology / Edited by David Clarke Burks.
Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1994.
This anthology volume contains thirty selections on and about wildlands. "Each of the writers was invited to contribute a new or substantially revised piece for the anthology." Many of the selections have their own references and notes.

Pub. HD9000.5 .S454 2000
Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply / Vandana Shiva.
Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1999.
Vandana Shiva is a world-renowned environmental thinker and activist. Before becoming an activist, she was a physicist in India. Now, she directs the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy. In this recent book, she takes a hard look at the industrial economy and concludes that their economic growth is theft from nature and people. She examines issues over corporate intellectual property "rights" over seeds and how the changes in corporate culture and centuries old agricultural practices are threatening lives, economies, and biodiversity.
The volume includes notes at the ends of each chapter and an index.

Pub. QH541.5 .E8 W64 1993
A Tidewater Place: Portrait of the Willapa Ecosystem / Edward C. Wilson.
Seattle, WA: The Mountaineers Books, 1993.
Willapa Bay, located in the southwestern corner of Washington state above the Columbia River, is located in a biologically diverse temperate rain forest. It is considered to be one of the most pollution free estuaries in the continental United States. It is a rich habitat, and many of its resources are renewable. If you eat oysters, you should know that one in six oysters consumed in the US are from Willapa Bay.
The ecosystem covers 680,000 acres, and it's in danger. It's in danger from many of the things that other natural areas are in danger from: native species that are out of control, alien species, development, and pollution. By looking at the gorgeous color photos in this volume, you gain an appreciation for what it, and a fear of what might be lost.
The book contains information on further readings, natural history of the area, threats to the area, and economy of the area.

Pub. HN59.2 .C75 1991
Trees, Why Do You Wait?: America's Changing Rural Culture / Richard Critchfield.
Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1991.
Farming, farming communities, and culture in America are the subjects of this volume, and though the topics don't necessarily seem to coexist peacefully, the author puts forth an intriguing thesis: "All culture has a rural origin." In examining his thesis, the author writes of the drastic decline of farm and rural influences on our society as a whole. He examines two rural communities, one on the prairie of North Dakota and the other in Iowa's Grant Wood country, to help support his theories.
The books contains a guide for further reading and an index.

Pub. QH541.5 .C6 W465 1999
Urban Habitats / C. Philip Wheater.
London; New York: Routledge, 1999.
"Urban Habitats presents an illustrated and practical guide to the wide range of urban habitats and the flora and fauna which live within them, and examines the most important conservation and management issues faced within our towns and cities." This volume provides information on the range of habitats that are found in urban areas, as well as the typical plants and animals likely to be found in the various habitats. The work divides itself into discussing The Ecology of Urban Habitats, then moves on to Management and Conservation before taking on Case Studies and Practical Work.
Photographs, illustrations, charts, graphs, a glossary, a species list for plants and animals, a guide to further reading, a subject index, and a species index are all provided.

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CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Pub. Juv E450 .E38 1997
Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad / Pamela Duncan Edwards.
[New York?]: HarperCollins, 1997.
Dramatic text and illustrations highlight this book that takes the reader into the natural world encountered by a slave on his desperate journey to be free. When the bullfrog croaks, is he guiding the youngster to water, or is he just being a bullfrog? Along the way, the young man gets a great deal of help from the animal kingdom. The animals have seen "Barefeet" before, along with some dragged off in chains by the "Heavy Boots."

Pub. Juv QK49 .R646 1999
Bumblebee, Bumblebee, Do You Know Me?: A Garden Guessing Game / Anne Rockwell.
New York: HarperCollins, 1999.
Flowers ask questions of insects in this charming guessing game. "Do you know me?" they ask. "I am a" daffodil, or a poppy, or a rose.

Pub. Juv Ql544.2 .M87 1999
Caterpillar's Wish / Mary Murphy.
New York: DK Publishing, Inc, 1999.
Caterpillar lives in the garden with her friends, ladybug and bee. They fly away to have adventures, but caterpillar can't fly and she's always left at home along until they come back. One day when they go away, they come back but can't find caterpillar! She's in a cocoon! When she emerges, will she be able to fly with them? Find out the answer in this charming and colorful story.

Pub. Juv HN59.2 .C75 1991
Chattanooga Sludge / Molly Bang.
San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, 1991.
The angels of frogs killed by toxins are your guides as they annotate and help to recount the story of one man's ideas. His idea? Sludge can be removed from the Chattanooga River, and possibly other rivers, with a "Living Machine" that uses bacteria to remove toxins. Follow him through the scientific experimentation process via colorful illustrations and illuminating frog commentary.

Pub. Juv GB611 .M67 1994
The Desert is My Mother = El Desierto es Mi Madre / Pat Mora.
Houston, TX: Piñata Books, 1994.
This bilingual book in Spanish and English conveys a young girls love for the desert and the things that the desert gives her.

Pub. Juv QB631.4 .D45 1999
The Earth is Good: A Chant in Praise of Nature / Michael DeMunn.
New York: Scholastic Books, 1999.
This chant helps children become more appreciative of nature and its gifts. The book emphasizes the earth's treasures, and ensures children that they are treasures, too.

Pub. Juv PZ8.1 .A213 Lo 1996
The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks / Retold by Verna Aardema.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.
In this retelling of a Masai tale, a lioness feels loneliness after watching a mother ostrich and her brood. To ease her sadness, she decides to steal the chicks from their mother. In her desperate attempts to retrieve her babies, the mother ostrich seeks out the help of other African animals, but only the mongoose is smart enough and brave enough to outwit the lion. One of the great features of this story is the use of actual Masai words to convey the sounds of the animals.

Pub. Juv QH48 .S975 1998
Lots and Lots of Zebra Stripes: Patterns in Nature / Stephen R. Swinburne.
Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press, 1998.
Using color photographs, this book describes and displays patterns that occur in nature. Information on what patterns are and where to look for them are provided, along with color photographs that range from sea shells, to giraffes, to pansies, to rainbows, and more.

Pub. Juv PZ8 .S585 Mu 1987
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale / John Steptoe.
New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1987.
This story is taken from a folk tale collected in 1895. In the story, Mufaro's two daughters are very beautiful. One of them is going to marry the king and become a queen. Unfortunately, while one daughter is kind, merciful, and generous the other is mean spirited and selfish. The names of the characters are taken from words in the Shona language. Mufaro means happy man, Nyasha means mercy, and Manyara means ashamed. The book contains beautiful illustrations and a fun and charming story.

Pub. Juv QL731 .A1 T7313 1997
My Home is Africa: Who Am I? / Valérie Tracqui.
Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing, 1997.
This fun board book contains color photographs of African animals. Each animal declares what kind of animal he is, and then states a fact about himself. Some of the animals included are giraffe, baboon, cheetah, and hyena.

Pub. Juv QE862 .D5 W66 1994
A Night in the Dinosaur Graveyard / A.J. Wood.
New York: HarperFestival, 1994.
Two children join their grandfather on a fossil hunt and find a huge dinosaur bone. Finding the bone leads to an adventure where they hide in caves, avoid dinosaur ghosts, and, eventually, help a T. Rex by giving him back his fossil.

Pub. Juv QA113 .F73 2000
One Lonely Sea Horse / Sacton Freymann and Joost Elffers.
New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2000.
From the people who brought the world the definitive book on playing with your food, comes this wonderful counting book. This charming and fun book follows a lonely sea horse as she discovers friends in the sea. All of the characters in the book are made from fruits and vegetables. The characters include banana octopi, bell pepper angelfish, and, our main character, a chioggia beets sea horse.

Pub. Juv PZ7 .L8432 Ow 1993
The Owl Who Became the Moon / Jonathan London.
New York, NY: Dutton Children's Books, 1993.
Join a sleepy boy on his imaginary journey by train through a wintry mountain habitat covered by snow. The owl the cougar, mice, and bunnies are all encountered, and then fall asleep.

Pub. Juv QE862 .D5 C238 1999
Patrick's Dinosaurs on the Internet / Carol Carrick.
New York: Clarion Books, 1999.
Patrick likes to research dinosaurs on the Internet. While he's been doing that, dinosaurs have been watching him through the computer. Flato the dinosaur comes from the dinosaur planet in his spaceship to take Patrick to his school for show-and-tell. While he's on the dinosaur planet he plays soccer, runs from a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and then goes home.

Pub. Juv PZ7 .J6316 Qu 2000
Qunnie Blue / Dinah Johnson.
New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2000.
The author took the name of the young girl and her grandmother, Hattie Lottie Annie Quinnie Blue, from her own great-grandmothers and her youth in South Carolina. In the story a young girl imagines what childhood was like for her grandmother, her namesake. Beautiful paintings have been used to convey a representation of family, relationships, and society in the African-American community.

Pub. Juv QL668 .E24 C685 1999
Red-Eyed Tree Frog / Joy Crowley.
New York: Scholastic Press, 1999.
"Evening comes to the rainforest." Some animals go to sleep in the evening, but for others, the night is their time of day! The red-eyed tree frog is just falling asleep as the sun comes up, so by evening he's ready to be awake. Learn about teh frog in this book filled with amazing, close-up, color photographs. Watch as he evades a snake and an iguana, eats a moth, and sleeps as morning comes. After the story is over, learn more factual information about the tree frog.

Pub. Juv PZ7 .F599 We 1999
Weslandia / Paul Fleischman.
Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 1999.
Wesley has never fit in at school. He refuses to shave half his head, he doesn't like football, and he actually likes to read and learn! For his summer vacation, he decides to apply what he learned in school as a project: staple crops and civilization. Wesley begins to grow marvelous plants. Soon, the plants are providing food, entertainment, clothing, a clock, insect repellent, and more. Along the way Wesley makes friends, and he doesn't mind going back to school in the fall.

Pub. Juv DT2889 .S86 1993
Where are you Going Manyoni? / Catherine Stock.
New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1993.
Above the Limpopo River and under the tall wild fig trees, follow Manyoni to school. In the parts of Zimbabwe where Manyoni lives, some children walk as far as two hours each way to get to school. In this book we follow Manyoni's journey to school as she walks past kingfishers and baboons on a long journey to get to school: her favorite place. The book also contains a glossary.

Pub. Juv QC178 .S49 1994
Zero Gravity / Gloria Skurzynski.
New York, NY: Bradbury Press, 1994.
This book won the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award. Find out why it won, as you learn about gravity. What is gravity? Why do balloons filled with helium float? Why doesn't the moon fall to Earth like an apple fell on Newton's head? All these questions and more are answered as the author provides a history of the discovery of gravity and Newton's additions to science. Centrifugal force is also discussed. Color photographs take us to the space shuttle, where we learn about how astronauts cope with no gravity.
A glossary and an index are included.

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MULTIMEDIA/AUDIO VISUAL

Pub AV&M QL 696 .F3 R368 1991
Raptors: Birds of Prey. New York: BFA Educational Media, 1991.

This thirteen and a half minute video features beautiful color cinematography to showcase the agility and beauty of birds of prey. The raptors include falcons, hawks, eagles, and owls. The video discusses adaptation to habitat, the differences and similarities between raptors like hooked beaks and sharp, strong talons, and specialization for certain types of prey. Natural history of some of the birds are included in the narration, including information on the golden eagle, great horned owl, butteo, and goshawk.
A small guide of discussion questions and vocabulary used in the narration is also included in the packaging.

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CURRICULUM

No titles yet in January.

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All of the materials above are available for check-out to Academy members.

This page will not be complete until the end of January. Please check back for more materials and reviews.


 

 

 

 

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Last update: January 31, 2001.