It was 1978, and there had been no resident timber wolves in Wisconsin for twenty years. Still, packs were active in neighboring Minnesota, and there was the occasional rumor from Wisconsin's northwestern counties of wolf sign or sightings. Had wolves returned on their own to Wisconsin? Richard Thiel, then a college student with a passion for wolves, was determined to find out. Thus begins Keepers of the Wolves, Thiel's tale of his ten years at the center of efforts to track and protect the recovery of wolves in Northern Wisconsin. From his early efforts as a student enthusiast to his departure in 1989 from the post of wolf biologist for the Department of Natural Resources, Thiel conveys the wonder, frustrations, humor, and everyday hard work of field biologists, as well as the politics and public relations pitfalls that so often accompany their profession. We share in the excitement as Thiel and his colleagues find wolf tracks in the snow, howl in the forest night and are answered back, learn to safely trap wolves to attach radio collars, and track the packs' ranges by air from a cramped Piper Cub. We follow the stories of individual wolves and their packs as pups are born and die, wolves are shot by accident and by intent, ravages of canine parvovirus and hard winters take their toll, and young adults move on to new ranges. Believing he had left his beloved wolves behind, Thiel takes a new job as an environmental educator in central Wisconsin, but soon wolves follow. By 1999, there were an estimated 200 timber wolves in 54 packs in Wisconsin. This is a sequel to Dick Thiel's 1994 book, The Timber Wolf in Wisconsin: The Death and Life of a Majestic Predator. That book traced the wolf's history in Wisconsin, its near extinction, and the initial efforts to reestablish it in our state. Thiel's new book looks at how successful that program has been.

A high-stakes middle grade historical adventure through Yosemite National Park by the New York Times-bestselling author of Masterpiece. Twelve-year-old Lizzie Durango and her dad have always had a zoo to call their home. Lizzie spends her days watching the animals and taking note of their various behaviors. Though the zoo makes for a unique home, it's a hard place for Lizzie to make lasting friends. But all this changes one afternoon when she finds Tyler Briggs, a runaway who has secretly made the zoo his makeshift home. The two become friends and, just as quickly, stumble into a covert investigation involving the zoo wolves who are suddenly dying. Little do they know, this mystery will draw them into a high-stakes historical adventure involving the legend of John Muir as they try to navigate safely while lost in Yosemite National Park. A Christy Ottaviano Book

Perfect for fans of His Dark Materials! Against all odds, cubs Stellan, Jytte, Third, and Froya have found the key hidden inside the legendary Den of Forever Frost. Now, they have everything they need to destroy the dangerous ice clock. Everything . . . except an army. The power-hungry Grand Patek will stop at nothing to protect the clock, the source of his authority. And so, it's up to the cubs to convince the animals of Ga'Hoole to join the fight-a journey that'll take them from the fabled owl parliament to the rugged territory of the wolves of the beyond. But the owls and the wolves have secrets of their own -- secrets that threaten to fracture the fragile alliance. Do Stellan and Jytte have what it takes to become the leaders of the resistance? Or will the bears be left on their own to battle the greatest enemy Ga'Hoole has ever known?

In early 1958, in the far northern town of Cornucopia, Wisconsin's "last" timber wolf was accidentally run over by an automobile. The "humane" intention to end the animal's suffering produced a grisly aftermath: the wolf survived the impact of the car, was bludgeoned with a tire iron twice but survived, and finally had its throat slit with a restaurant knife. This horrifying scene is certainly an apt (if appalling) symbol of the timber wolf's early fate in Wisconsin. Feared, detested, hunted down for state-authorized bounties, the animal was systematically exterminated as an enemy of man and progress. Yet this bleak chapter in the history of conservation has a happier ending. Seventeen years later, in 1975, the timber wolf had officially reestablished itself and, as a protected species, is now flourishing under the care of Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources. Few can be more caring than the author, a DNR educator in wildlife management. As an inquisitive teenager, Richard Thiel began his pursuit of the Wisconsin timber wolf's story in the mid-1960s and has been at it ever since. The result is this arresting, intensely readable book, a story of fear, mistrust, and misunderstanding that ends, thankfully, as one of hope and appreciation.

Wolves aren’t the only predators in the town of Defiance. Sam Rivers, wildlife biologist and special agent for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, has a penchant for understanding predators. His expertise finds him returning to Defiance, Minnesota, his boyhood home on the Mesabi Iron Range, a home he hasn’t seen in twenty years. There, he investigates wolf depredation of local livestock—but the mysterious death of his estranged father lands the agent on a case unlike any he’s worked before. His knowledge of cold, wilderness and wolves was bred in his bones. He learned his lessons well, and now he’ll need to use them. Award-winning author Cary J. Griffith spins an incredible story of mystery and suspense in his fiction debut. It is a must-read for anyone looking to curl up with a good book.

When Mother Bear and her two cubs leave the den for the first time they practice behaviors including climbing, searching, swimming, digging, and finally sleeping.

More wonderful tales and how to tell them from master storyteller Megan McKenna. A coyote, a woodcutter, a Buddist Zen master, a boy named Samuel, a Sufi mystic, two men walking to Emmaus all are central characters in stories told by Megan McKenna. As we listen to "Once upon a time," their lives become our lives. We learn from their mistakes and profit from their wisdom. Megan McKenna's stories are drawn from many religious traditions, Hebrew Scriptures, sufi mysticism, Native American traditions, Eastern religions, and the Christian Gospels. Keepers of the Story also offers readers fascinating and helpful information about storytelling itself. In the final chapter, McKenna explores how the storyteller becomes theologian, talking and teaching about God, the Keeper of the Story of us all.

The dragons rumbled low in their throats, they didn't like the void. "Listen!" Lady Thunderstroke said at last, standing near to her dragon some distance away, "There's a voice coming out of that thing!" The men concentrated on the strange opening and at last agreed, "You're right, but what a terrible voice!" "And they're speaking threats too!" "Someone is in harm's way inside that thing!" "I wonder where it goes, and how we can help them?" Lady Thunderstroke looked quietly up at her amethyst dragon and the dragon chirped. The Lady pulled her sword out and strode forward between the men and into the void saying "Only one way to find out - wait here!" and she was gone.