Michael The Wildlife Detective

When critters crawl into your home, don't fret! Call Michael the wildlife detective. He uses his special investigative skills to figure out which animals have decided to make your house their own and how to safely and humanely stop them in their tracks. Author Michael Birt, a wildlife biologist, shares with readers the importance of treating wild animals and nature with respect and kindness--even when they end up in unnatural spaces and cause inconvenience for their human neighbors. He highlights the importance of finding compassionate solutions to pesky problems and explains why some animals may wander from their wild homes into our own.

There's a mystery at Washington Middle School that only Michael the wildlife detective can solve. Secretive guests have moved into the school gymnasium and Principal Green doesn't know what to do. But not to worry! Using math, music, science, and physical evidence, Michael uncovers the identities of the mysterious intruders who have decided to make the school their new home. As Michael reveals clue after clue, young readers will enjoy guessing the identities of the critters putting the school into an uproar. Throughout his stakeout, Michael offers a lesson on the gymnasium's new residents and how to safely and humanely encourage them to move along. Author Michael Birt, a wildlife biologist, shares with readers the importance of treating wild animals and nature with respect and kindness--even when they end up in unnatural spaces and cause inconvenience for their human neighbors. He highlights the importance of finding compassionate solutions to pesky problems and explains why the school's mystery guests are so special.

When critters crawl into your home, don't fret! Call Michael the wildlife detective. He uses his special investigative skills to figure out which animals have decided to make your house their own and how to safely and humanely stop them in their tracks. Author Michael Birt, a wildlife biologist, shares with readers the importance of treating wild animals and nature with respect and kindness--even when they end up in unnatural spaces and cause inconvenience for their human neighbors. He highlights the importance of finding compassionate solutions to pesky problems and explains why some animals may wander from their wild homes into our own.

On his nineteenth birthday, Peter Allison flipped a coin. One side would take him to Africa and the other to South America, the two places he wanted to explore before he died. He recounted his time spent as a safari guide in Africa to much acclaim in Whatever You Do, Don’t Run and Don’t Look Behind You. Sixteen years later, he makes his way to Santiago, Chile, ready to seek out the continent’s best, weirdest, and wildest adventures, and to chase the elusive jaguar. In just the first six months, Allison is bitten by a puma (several times), knocked on his head by a bad empanada, and surrounded by piranhas while rafting down a Bolivian river—all because of his unusual fear of refrigerators and of staying in any one place for too long. Ever the gifted storyteller and cultural observer, Allison makes many observations about life in humid climes, the nature of nomadism, and exactly what it is like to be nearly blasted off a mountain by the famous Patagonia wind. Allison’s self-deprecating humor is as delightful as his crazy stunts, and his love for animals—even when they bite—is infectious.

Named one of NPR's Best Books of 2021 From the author of Annihilation, a brilliant speculative thriller of dark conspiracy, endangered species, and the possible end of all things. Security consultant “Jane Smith” receives an envelope with a key to a storage unit that holds a taxidermied hummingbird and clues leading her to a taxidermied salamander. Silvina, the dead woman who left the note, is a reputed ecoterrorist and the daughter of an Argentine industrialist. By taking the hummingbird from the storage unit, Jane sets in motion a series of events that quickly spin beyond her control. Soon, Jane and her family are in danger, with few allies to help her make sense of the true scope of the peril. Is the only way to safety to follow in Silvina’s footsteps? Is it too late to stop? As she desperately seeks answers about why Silvina contacted her, time is running out—for her and possibly for the world. Hummingbird Salamander is Jeff VanderMeer at his brilliant, cinematic best, wrapping profound questions about climate change, identity, and the world we live in into a tightly plotted thriller full of unexpected twists and elaborate conspiracy.