What could be better than watching the natural world out your window or on your television? Going out and experiencing it firsthand. In these fifty essays, acclaimed nature and science writer Sy Montgomery takes her readers on a season-by-season tour of the wilderness that is often as close as the backyard. Sy invites — almost dares — readers to follow her and form hands-on relationships with the plants, animals, birds, and even the insects that share space with people. These essays, most of which originally appeared in Sy's Boston Globe column Nature Journal, are by turns enlightening, entertaining, sometimes amusing, and always absorbing and informative. Filled with natural history and lore, the essays urge readers to appreciate what they find around them.

There is an ancient and deeply compelling biblical tradition of going into the wilderness to find God. Moses, Jesus and Paul?to name just a few of our spiritual forebears?knew that in the wilderness they would find the quiet and simplicity that would lead to profound spiritual connections. They understood that normal day-today living is usually not the way to regain that connection with God, because it affords little opportunity to simply, humbly and quietly listen for God?s voice and feel God?s presence. Perhaps even in our time?especially in our time?leaving civilization to spend time with God in the wilderness holds an important key to our own spiritual renewal.This practical guide illuminates the power of finding God in the wilderness experience and the universality of spiritual connection through nature. It explores the teachings about wilderness in sacred writings both ancient and contemporary and how we can grow through the shared and individual experiences of being present in nature. Lionberger draws from his own significant moments in the wilderness and stories from the many people who have accompanied him on wilderness treks. He explores the meaning of ?wilderness? in our modern society and offers thoughtful suggestions about how to find the Divine in our personal experiences.

Profiles more than forty habitat dioramas from the American Museum of Natural History, describing each one's contents and creation and presenting full-color photos and archival images.

2011 National Outdoor Book Award for Nature Guidebook Are you ready for a black fly bite to get graphic, for a barred owl's call to take on new meaning, and for the life cycle of the eastern newt to suddenly seem complex, beautiful, and intricately bound to the subtle patterns of mysterious underwater landscapes and damp forest floors? Naturalist Mary Holland's new book Naturally Curious promises a walk in the woods will never be the same. Holland leads you through the New England seasons out-of-doors—through the sun, rain, and snow; along roadsides and wetlands; above underground burrows and under treetop nesting sites. With just a turn of the page you'll suddenly know more about the creatures that frequent your backyard or the pond you visit every summer than you ever thought possible. Naturally Curious perfectly melds practical field guide with informal nature literature, providing you the remarkable opportunity to sit back, relax, and learn something fascinating about the natural world around you.

The remarkable story of how one of the most biologically diverse habitats in the world was destroyed, restored, and continues to evolve—with stunning, full-color photographs by two of the world’s best wildlife photographers. A Window on Eternity is a stunning book of splendid prose and gorgeous photography about one of the biologically richest places in Africa and perhaps in the world. Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique was nearly destroyed in a brutal civil war, then was reborn and is now evolv-ing back to its original state. Edward O. Wilson’s personal, luminous description of the wonders of Gorongosa is beautifully complemented by Piotr Naskrecki’s extraordinary photographs of the park’s exquisite natural beauty. A bonus DVD of Academy Award–winning director Jessica Yu’s documentary, The Guide, is also included with the book. Wilson takes readers to the summit of Mount Gorongosa, sacred to the local people and the park’s vital watershed. From the forests of the mountain he brings us to the deep gorges on the edge of the Rift Valley, previously unexplored by biologists, to search for new species and assess their ancient origins. He describes amazing animal encounters from huge colonies of agricultural termites to spe­cialized raider ants that feed on them to giant spi­ders, a battle between an eagle and a black mamba, “conversations” with traumatized elephants that survived the slaughter of the park’s large animals, and more. He pleads for Gorongosa—and other wild places—to be allowed to exist and evolve in its time­less way uninterrupted into the future. As he examines the near destruction and rebirth of Gorongosa, Wilson analyzes the balance of nature, which, he observes, teeters on a razor’s edge. Loss of even a single species can have serious ramifications throughout an ecosystem, and yet we are carelessly destroying complex biodiverse ecosystems with unknown consequences. The wildlands in which these ecosystems flourish gave birth to humanity, and it is this natural world, still evolving, that may outlast us and become our leg­acy, our window on eternity.

Make a spiritual journey through this beautiful collection of blessings, prayers and meditations about the creatures, wild and tame, that inhabit our world. These moving contributions about all types of animals?playful dogs and beloved cats, giant whales and powerful elephants, tiny insects and delicate birds?are drawn from many faith traditions, including Native American, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist.A special section also provides animal blessing ceremonies you can use to memorialize the loss of a companion animal, offer prayers for an animal suffering illness or injury or simply recognize the spiritual connection we create when we fully appreciate another member of God?s creation.

A chronicle of changes through the seasons both above and within the sea, A COASTAL COMPANION follows the arrival and departure of migrating shorebirds in spring and fall, schools of fish as they move in and out of our region, and the natural cycles of our bays, rivers, marshes, and coastal forests. Part field guide, part almanac, the book also highlights writers, artists, and scientists who have chosen the Gulf of Maine as their subject matter. Poems by twelve contemporary poets open each chapter, and illustrations by two Maine artists, Kimberleigh Martul-March and Margaret Campbell, are featured throughout the text. This is a book to keep close at hand, to be read not all at once, but through the seasons, one day at a time, and enjoyed year after year.

“We walked toward the part of the library where the air smelled as if it had been interred for years….. Finally, we got to the hallway where the wooden floor was the creakiest, and we sensed a strange whiff of excitement and fear. It smelled like a creature from a bygone time. It smelled like a dragon.” Thirteen-year-old Juan’s favorite things in the world are koalas, eating roast chicken, and the summer-time. This summer, though, is off to a terrible start. First, Juan’s parents separate and his dad goes to Paris. Then, as if that wasn’t horrible enough, Juan is sent away to his strange Uncle Tito’s house for the entire break! Uncle Tito is really odd: he has zigzag eyebrows; drinks ten cups of smoky tea a day; and lives inside a huge, mysterious library. One day, while Juan is exploring the library, he notices something inexplicable and rushes to tell Uncle Tito. “The books moved!” His uncle drinks all his tea in one gulp and, sputtering, lets his nephew in on a secret: Juan is a Princeps Reader––which means books respond magically to him––and he’s the only person capable of finding the elusive, never-before-read Wild Book. Juan teams up with his new friend Catalina and his little sister, and together they delve through books that scuttle from one shelf to the next, topple over unexpectedly, or even disappear altogether to find The Wild Book and discover its secret. But will they find it before the wicked, story-stealing Pirate Book does?

From the author of The Soul of an Octopus and bestselling memoir The Good Good Pig, a book that earned Sy Montgomery her status as one of the most celebrated wildlife writers of our time, Spell of the Tiger brings readers to the Sundarbans, a vast tangle of mangrove swamp and tidal delta that lies between India and Bangladesh. It is the only spot on earth where tigers routinely eat people—swimming silently behind small boats at night to drag away fishermen, snatching honey collectors and woodcutters from the forest. But, unlike in other parts of Asia where tigers are rapidly being hunted to extinction, tigers in the Sundarbans are revered. With the skill of a naturalist and the spirit of a mystic, Montgomery reveals the delicate balance of Sundarbans life, explores the mix of worship and fear that offers tigers unique protection there, and unlocks some surprising answers about why people at risk of becoming prey might consider their predator a god.

Remarkable new discoveries affirm the octopus as one of nature’s most intelligent and complex animals. This new book—written by the beloved author of the international bestseller The Soul of an Octopus and enhanced with vivid National Geographic photography—brings us closer than ever to these elusive creatures. The companion to the highly-anticipated National Geographic television special, this beautifully illustrated book explores the alluring underwater world of the octopus—a creature that resembles an alien lifeform, but whose behavior has earned it a reputation as one of the most intelligent animals on the planet. This magical journey into the world of the octopus will reveal how the large and capable brain of these creatures occupies their whole body–not just their heads—and they can actually adjust their genetic makeup to respond to the demands of the environment. It will allow readers to watch them change shape and color in order to camouflage themselves more effectively than any other species. And it will divulge how octopus mothers give their all in order to bring forth a new generation. With this offering, acclaimed author Sy Montgomery—known, thanks to her bestselling book, as the “octopus whisperer”—returns to the species she knows and loves, offering current and compassionate stories about the scientists on the front lines of octopus research and conservation. For all animal lovers—and especially those drawn to this magical marine being—this will be a book to relish, for both its fascinating imagery and its charming storytelling.