Identify just about any seashell found on New England beaches, from southern Connecticut to northern Maine. Beautiful illustrations and straightforward descriptive text help readers identify 70 different seashells, and learn a little bit about them--most likely anything a reader wants to identify will be included, without a lot of "extra" species. Expert information offered in an appealing format for beachcombers, amateur naturalists, and anyone else who loves the beach. Includes advice on how and where to find great shells.

As any visitor to the beach knows, all sorts of treasures can be found if you know how and where to look. This beautifully illustrated pocket guide helps young beachcombers find and identify shells of animals commonly found on northeastern shores. Writing specifically with the Northeast in mind, author and artist Joanne Roach-Evans describes clams, limpets, whelks, mussels, oysters, periwinkles, and more, in gentle prose with just the right amount of scientific information to satisfy the budding explorer. Easy enough for preschoolers to understand, but scientific enough to satisfy a middle-schooler, Seashells will appeal to any beach lover.

Who among us hasn’t marveled at the diversity and beauty of shells? Or picked one up, held it to our ear, and then gazed in wonder at its shape and hue? Many a lifelong shell collector has cut teeth (and toes) on the beaches of the Jersey Shore, the Outer Banks, or the coasts of Sanibel Island. Some have even dived to the depths of the ocean. But most of us are not familiar with the biological origin of shells, their role in explaining evolutionary history, and the incredible variety of forms in which they come. Shells are the external skeletons of mollusks, an ancient and diverse phylum of invertebrates that are in the earliest fossil record of multicellular life over 500 million years ago. There are over 100,000 kinds of recorded mollusks, and some estimate that there are over amillion more that have yet to be discovered. Some breathe air, others live in fresh water, but most live in the ocean. They range in size from a grain of sand to a beach ball and in weight from a few grams to several hundred pounds. And in this lavishly illustrated volume, they finally get their full due. The Book of Shells offers a visually stunning and scientifically engaging guide to six hundred of the most intriguing mollusk shells, each chosen to convey the range of shapes and sizes that occur across a range of species. Each shell is reproduced here at its actual size, in full color, and is accompanied by an explanation of the shell’s range, distribution, abundance, habitat, and operculum—the piece that protects the mollusk when it’s in the shell. Brief scientific and historical accounts of each shell and related species include fun-filled facts and anecdotes that broaden its portrait. The Matchless Cone, for instance, or Conus cedonulli, was one of the rarest shells collected during the eighteenth century. So much so, in fact, that a specimen in 1796 was sold for more than six times as much as a painting by Vermeer at the same auction. But since the advent of scuba diving, this shell has become far more accessible to collectors—though not without certain risks. Some species of Conus produce venom that has caused more than thirty known human deaths. The Zebra Nerite, the Heart Cockle, the Indian Babylon, the Junonia, the Atlantic Thorny Oyster—shells from habitats spanning the poles and the tropics, from the highest mountains to the ocean’s deepest recesses, are all on display in this definitive work.

Presents a pictorial guide to marine mollusks, providing descriptions for native varieties and important introduced species.

A fun, road-trip-style guide to the 75 or so best shacks in New England, starting in Connecticut and heading north and east through Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Lobster Shacks is a fun, road-trip-style guide to the 75 or so best shacks in New England, starting in Connecticut and heading north and east through Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Each shack entry features a lively description which includes historical background, biographical portraits of the owners past and present, highlights from the menu, and driving directions. Scattered throughout the guide you will find feature recipes, lobster shack legends and lore, and information on local fishing fleets. Author Mike Urban is a veteran shack aficionado with years of experience searching for the best shacks. In short, whatever fits the clam shack zeitgeist and spirit will find its way into this unique guide.