Showing results by narrator "Donna German" in All Categories

Count backward from 10 to one during one of the most colorful times of year: fall. Learn about the bright, colorful leaves and the trees from which they fall: aspen, birch, maple, oak, chestnut, linden, pine, beech, dogwood, and sweet gum. Discover the animals who frolic in the crisp, autumn air as they get ready for the approaching cold winter. The "For Creative Minds" educational section includes: plant parts, leaves - the shape of it all, and what plants are good for.

Big cats are fierce predators that roam the world from the mountains to the deserts. How are these wild cats that hunt for their food the same as pet cats that might chase a mouse or ball of yarn? How are they different? Children learn the days of the week as they travel to seven different world habitats to meet the big cats and then back home to compare and contrast the domestic cat's behavior to that of its relative.

Fur, feathers, and scales are all animal coverings or skins. Animals use their skin to stay warm and dry, protect themselves or hide or even to warn other animals to stay away. Following Animal Noses, Animal Tails, Animal Ears, Animal Eyes, Animal Mouths (NSTA/CBC Outstanding Trade Science Award), and Animal Legs, Mary Holland continues her Animal Anatomy and Adaptations series by the many different ways that animals use and rely on their skin covering adaptations to survive in their habitats.

Long ago, the Old Ones were bad. They drank all the water, ate all the pine nuts, and left nothing for the other creatures. Sinawav the coyote punished them by turning them into rocky hoodoos. Now, when children misbehave, their Paiute elders remind them that they, too, could be turned into stone columns! Vivian has heard the stories, but this year as she and her grandmother climb the mesa to pick pine nuts, Vivian has something more important on her mind: basketball tryouts.

Baby Bat loves his cave home and never wants to leave. While practicing flapping his wings one night, he falls, and Pluribus Packrat rescues him. They then explore the deepest, darkest corners of the cave, where they meet amazing animals - animals that don't need eyes to see or colors to hide from enemies. Baby Bat learns how important bats are to the cave habitat and how other cave-living critters rely on bats for food. Will Baby Bat finally venture out of the cave to help the other animals?

Octavia Octopus and her sea-animal friends love playing camouflage games to practice how they would hide from a "big, hungry creature". Octavia, however, just cannot seem to get her colors right when she tries to shoot her purple ink cloud. What happens when the big, hungry shark shows up looking for his dinner?

This whimsical story lets children imagine what life would be like if they were pet parrots. Listeners join four parrots and their young, multicultural owners as they morph into four-toed parrots climbing around the house then chew wooden spoons, popsicles - sticks and all - with hooked parrot beaks! The fun continues as children learn all about parrots and their adaptations. The "For Creative Minds" section has parrot fun facts, tips for taking care of a pet parrot, and a "make a beak" craft.

Astro is a stellar Steller sea lion! Only a few days old when found orphaned, he is cared for and raised at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California. When big enough to be released to the wild where he needs to be, he has other plans! Just like a lost dog finding his way home, Astro keeps swimming back toward the center, crossing miles of open ocean water to do so. After several attempts, people realize that Astro is too accustomed to humans and will just keep coming back.

Yes, some of the 18 species of penguins live in cold, polar regions, but most penguins live in warm climates. One species even lives near the equator! These birds “fly” through the water with flippers instead of the air with wings. Most are black and white, but one species is blue and white. Some have red eyes, and some have yellow eyes. Some even have colorful bursts of feathers atop their heads.

I Am Hatzegopteryx, the second book in Arbordale Publishing’s I Am Prehistoric series, gives children a glimpse into the life of the awesome Hatzegopteryx, from tiny chick to majestic winged predator, and how it made its living. Unlike many pterosaurs, this one was a terrestrial carnivore, spending its time hunting prey on land.

Weather changes daily. Sometimes it can even change from one moment to another - like a sudden storm. Weather affects our daily lives from what we wear to what outdoor activities (or lack thereof) we can do. Learning about weather and how to dress and prepare for it is an important skill to learn. Maybe even more important is the skill of observation. By asking simple questions, children become engaged and can start to observe and make correlations about the weather around them so they will understand how the weather impacts their lives.

Teeth come in all shapes and sizes, just like their animal hosts. Some teeth are sharp to grab prey and tear apart the meat. Other teeth are flat to chew plants, and some animals have both kinds to eat plants and animals. And That’s the Tooth delivers unique and fun facts about animal and human teeth through engaging riddles.

What child hasn't wondered what it would be like to be an animal, able to hop, fly, or slither with ease? After a trip to an aquarium, Oliver decides he wants to be a sea otter. Oliver tries to copy sea otter behavior at meals, while playing, during a trip to the store, and at bath time. However, during the course of the day, Oliver discovers that he just doesn't have the same adaptations. Being an otter isn't easy for a human. What's an otter - we mean, a boy - to do?

What creeps while you sleep? Short, lyrical sentences make this a perfect naptime or bedtime story. Young listeners are introduced to nocturnal animals and their behaviors. Older listeners learn more about each animal through paired- listening sidebar information.

Jojo is prepping for an exciting night; it's time for the bat count! Bats have always been a welcome presence during the summers in the family barn. But over the years, the numbers have dwindled as many bats in the area caught white-nose syndrome. Jojo and her family count the bats and send the numbers to scientists who study bats, to see if the bat population can recover. On a summer evening, the family quietly makes their way to the lawn to watch the sky and count the visitors to their farm.

As the sun begins to set, arctic animals scurry to prepare for six months of darkness and cold. Tuktuk the collared lemming is almost ready for the long winter night - all he needs is warm fur to line his nest. When one furry kamik (boot) slips off an Inuit driver's sled, Tuktuk is in luck! But as he drags it home, Putak the polar bear, Aput the arctic fox, and Masak the caribou eye this little lemming's prize and want it for their own. Can Tuktuk outwit the other animals and convince them that one furry kamik is no good for anyone bigger than a lemming?

While Ming plays outside one summer day, the smell of delicious food fills the air. It is coming from greedy Fu Wang's house. "What is he up to?" wonders Ming. To his alarm, Fu Wang demands that all the neighbors pay him for the pleasant smells. When the neighbors refuse, the case goes to court. How will the judge rule in this unusual case? Can Fu Wang make money from the neighbors' sense of smell? A wise judge makes use of another sense to close the case with clever and convincing logic.

Dena loves using magnets to perform magic tricks for the kids at the pool. When Enrique arrives in town, he doesn't like that Dena is fooling the others. He gives her a century-old treasure map, and Dena uses her compass and tools to plot the location of the treasure. To her surprise, the treasure is not where it should be! What could cause her compass to lead her off course? When she discovers the answer, will Dena keep fooling the other kids with magic tricks, or will she help them learn about magnetism and the earth's shifting magnetic poles?

Penelope Parker lives with penguins! Short ones, tall ones, young and old - the penguins are from all over the southern hemisphere, including some that live near the equator! Do the penguin antics prove too much for her to handle? Children compare and contrast the different penguin species as they learn geography.

Polar bears and penguins may like cold weather, but they live at opposite ends of the Earth. What do these animals have in common, and how are they different? You might see them near each other at a zoo, but they would never be found in the same habitats in the wild. Compare and contrast these polar animals.