A water strider darts across a pond, its feet dimpling the surface tension; a giant water bug dives below, carrying his mate’s eggs on his back; hidden among plant roots on the silty bottom, a dragonfly larva stalks unwary minnows. Barely skimming the surface, in the air above the pond, swarm mayflies with diaphanous wings. Take this walk around the pond with Gilbert Waldbauer and discover the most amazingly diverse inhabitants of the freshwater world. In his hallmark companionable style, Waldbauer introduces us to the aquatic insects that have colonized ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers, especially those in North America. Along the way we learn about the diverse forms these arthropods take, as well as their remarkable modes of life—how they have radiated into every imaginable niche in the water environment, and how they cope with the challenges such an environment poses to respiration, vision, thermoregulation, and reproduction. We encounter the caddis fly larva building its protective case and camouflaging it with stream detritus; green darner dragonflies mating midair in an acrobatic wheel formation; ants that have adapted to the tiny water environment within a pitcher plant; and insects whose adaptations to the aquatic lifestyle are furnishing biomaterials engineers with ideas for future applications in industry and consumer goods. While learning about the evolution, natural history, and ecology of these insects, readers also discover more than a little about the scientists who study them.

Buddy Bear and Mama spend the day at a pond learning about wildlife.

Cammy and William follow an old deer path around the pond in search of blueberries. But unexpectedly they find a lot more. Clue after clue tells them what kind of animal has been there before and left its trace behind. Share their adventure in this handsome and informative companion toIn the Woods: Who's Been Here?andIn the Snow: Who's Been Here?

Follow the adventures of a wriggly tadpole as it grows up and encounters enormous fish, fluffy ducklings and shimmering dragonflies before turning into a fully grown frog.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Booker Prize–winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December comes a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about ourselves—and our world today. LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, Time, San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Town & Country, The Rumpus, Electric Lit, Thrillist, BookPage • “[A] worship song to writers and readers.”—Oprah Daily For the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. In his introduction, Saunders writes, “We’re going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn’t fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art—namely, to ask the big questions, questions like, How are we supposed to be living down here? What were we put here to accomplish? What should we value? What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?” He approaches the stories technically yet accessibly, and through them explains how narrative functions; why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster. The process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is a technical craft, but also a way of training oneself to see the world with new openness and curiosity. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a deep exploration not just of how great writing works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible.

What If Your Biggest Challenges, Struggles, and Heartbreaks Were Actually Preparing You for Your Greatest Transformation... and Contribution to the World? Can your most difficult moments be the ones that shed the greatest light in your life? These courageous visionaries say YES! Join these transformational authors as they share their own touching, amazing, and deeply inspiring true stories of their trials, triumphs, and ultimate transformations. In this fifth wave of Pebbles in the Pond, you'll connect with a diverse group of messengers whose stories are unique, yet whose messages have a common thread of inspiration, hope, healing, transformation, and new possibilities. As they share their straight-from-the-heart experiences, they invite you to discover how to transform your own challenges into the greatest gifts and blessings in your life. You'll also discover how one transformed life can cause ripples of good that expand out into the world - just like a "pebble in the pond." Our hope is that you'll also be inspired to discover what your pebble is so you can create a wave of positive change too! As you'll discover on these pages, it doesn't matter where you came from or what you've been through... you are loved and you do make a difference! "A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history." Gandhi Read this book and be inspired by this small body of determined spirits. They are indeed helping to shift the course of history through their own transformations and the ways they choose to live their lives every day. They look forward to sharing their journeys with you.

Explores how plants, insects, fish, birds, and other animals come together in ponds and make them their homes.

In the Small, Small Pond is a 1994 Caldecott Honor Book.

In his stunning new wordless picture book, Geraldo Valério explores the nature of true friendship and love when a swan invites a boy and his dog on a ride through a shimmering pond.

They said her grandfather was dead. They said her grandmother was crazy. Christy knows they're wrong. When her grandmother dies, 13-year-old Christy inherits an old family secret: the pond behind her house is in fact a portal to another world. What’s more, she learns that her grandfather went through the portal when he mysteriously “disappeared” nine years ago. Christy tries to respect her grandmother’s final wishes and not go exploring, but when a classmate named Rob falls into the pond, she has to act. Since no one would believe her if she told them the truth about the pond, Christy arranges her own rescue party. In order to rescue Rob, she’ll have to brave a bizarre alien landscape, evade hostile creatures, and protect Danny, the boy from next door who followed her through the portal. Meanwhile on Earth, the grown-ups launch a frantic search, and they’re willing to drain the pond to find out what happened. Will Christy be able to find her grandfather, rescue Rob, and return safely to Earth before she becomes a permanent resident of the Empty World? Portal Through the Pond is the first book of the Empty World Saga, a science fiction adventure series for kids aged 8-12. If your kids have blown through the Land of Stories, devoured the Keeper of the Lost Cities, or can't wait for the next Wings of Fire, make the complete Empty World Saga their next read. Pick up your copy of Portal Through the Pond, and land in an alien world!