Animals play a special role in Indian culture. In opposition to deities, they help to frame the human community. Indian philosophy assumes the basic unity of animals and humans and in everyday life animals symbolize various ideas and sentiments. In the realm of Indian art, animals appear everywhere. In this splendid and unique collection of photographs, Stella Snead captures the extraordinary vitality, intelligence, and variety of animals in Indian sculpture found at sites from prehistory through the eighteenth century. Here are cats, peacocks, mongooses, anteaters, cows, hyenas, and tigers, as well as such fantastic creatures as double-bodied lions and elephants with fish tails. Collected from all areas of India, these photographs include images from famous Indian monuments, and museum collections, as well as images from remote sites, some of which have never before been published. Wendy Doniger's essay explores and explains the four worlds or dimensions that animals occupy in Indian thought: nature, the human world, the divine world, and the world of fantasy. George Michell places Indian sculptures of animals in their architectural and art historical context. His chronological survey identifies the location and the subject of the animals photographed and describes the artistic activity of the regions and period from which the photographs are drawn. This beautifully illustrated book will appeal to a wide audience: to those interested in Asian studies, art, architecture, and animals, and to those drawn to Snead's powerful photographs, which capture both the idiosyncratic genius of tiny details and the grand sweep of cosmic symbols.

A short description of the extinct animal along with a color drawing.

A deep evil awakened. An ancient power stolen. The fate of the world is at stake. When monsters invade the southern lands, five warriors take up arms, including a forbidden ancient power to restore peace. But dark secrets put everything at risk and all could be lost in a dark gamble for power.

Animal lovers will enjoy learning to draw their favorite creatures from around the globe, step by easy step, in A World of Animals.

Covers a wide variety of species of animals in the world, including mammals that fly, birds that laugh, fish that walk, and insects that consult over nesting options, to identify just a few of the amazing behaviors animals provide.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “thrilling” (The New York Times), “dazzling” (The Wall Street Journal) tour of the radically different ways that animals perceive the world that will fill you with wonder and forever alter your perspective, by Pulitzer Prize–winning science journalist Ed Yong “One of this year’s finest works of narrative nonfiction.”—Oprah Daily ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time, People, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Slate, Reader’s Digest, Chicago Public Library, Outside, Publishers Weekly, BookPage ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Economist, Smithsonian Magazine, Prospect (UK), Globe & Mail, Esquire, Mental Floss, Marginalian, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world. In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats. We discover that a crocodile’s scaly face is as sensitive as a lover’s fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, that plants thrum with the inaudible songs of courting bugs, and that even simple scallops have complex vision. We learn what bees see in flowers, what songbirds hear in their tunes, and what dogs smell on the street. We listen to stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, while looking ahead at the many mysteries that remain unsolved. Funny, rigorous, and suffused with the joy of discovery, An Immense World takes us on what Marcel Proust called “the only true voyage . . . not to visit strange lands, but to possess other eyes.” WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL • FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON AWARD

From the authors of A Gap in Nature, a breathtaking visual adventure showcasing ninety of the world’s most astounding creatures. Sumptuous birds of paradise, amazing soft-shell turtles, frogs that look like tomatoes, and terrifying fish (including the deep-water angler fish from Finding Nemo) are just some of the extraordinary creatures that can be found in Tim Flannery and Peter Schouten’s new book, Astonishing Animals. Superbly illustrated with lifelike full-color paintings, Astonishing Animals details ninety of the world’s most amazing animals from around the world. In this book you will find the hairy seadevil; the spectacular Sulawesi naked bat; and in the depths of the limestone caves in Slovenia, the olm, a pink, four-legged, sightless salamander that lives for a hundred years. In fascinating vignettes, Flannery offers the true evolutionary tale of how each of these bizarre creatures came to look the way they do. Alongside each historical account is a stunning hand-painted color reproduction (life-size in the original painting) by Schouten. Filled with purple-faced apes, jagged-toothed dolphins, and antlered lizards, Astonishing Animals is a remarkable collection of the world’s most incredible creatures and the stories behind their remarkable survival into a modern age. “An elegant paean to some of the world’s strangest and/or most beautiful creatures.” —Mary Ann Gwinn, The Seattle Times “As beautiful as it is fascinating, this book will be relished by animal lovers of all stripes.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

A wacky, wild, and weird look at animals through the eyes of Jungle Jack Hanna! Have you ever seen a naked mole rat? Do you know what a binturong is? Do you know what kind of bird has a deadly kick? Explore the world’s wackiest, wildest, and weirdest animals with expert and host Jungle Jack Hanna. The book features thirty animals that are wacky, weird, or wild. Kids will learn amazing animal facts and stories of Jungle Jack's personal adventures with some of these unique creatures. The book includes a bonus DVD with hilarious bloopers from his Emmy award-winning show, Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild, and other shows from his career.

My Four worlds is an inspiring story, which anyone seeking ways to overcome the hardships in life, should read. It tells you about the everyday human experiences of life that may be relevant to anyone, anywhere, and in different circumstances. It is about the life of a young man who has been battered by destiny, even to the point of resignation, as he suddenly became totally blind in his prime age of 23 years. But the young man did not give up; instead he fought gallantly to overcome the worst of all the odds in his life, turning disappointment into a blessing. This young man invites you to follow him through the journeys in the four worlds of his life, and learn how he superbly mastered the challenges he encountered in those worlds. In his childhood romances, you will be introduced to the landscape and the customs and traditions of his origin. In his world of denied opportunities, you will have insight in the slavery conditions and the hardships he had to bear. In his world of open opportunities, you will learn how he managed to catch up with his ambitions, how he found those opportunities hitherto denied him, grabbed them, and made the best of them to triumph. He invites you to accompany him in his meritorious services with the United Nations, and find out how he travelled around the globe, motivating the people of the world on how to overcome the challenges of physical and mental disabilities.