"Metamorphosis can be found throughout nature beyond just caterpillars and tadpoles. This fresh spin on the highly curricular topic explores some of the ocean's most fascinating creatures while explaining how and why these creatures metamorphose."--

Follow the scientists, around the world and into their labs, who are studying animals and the germs that attack them. From fungus-ridden frogs with fevers to bacteria-resistant buzzards and everything in-between, animals have A LOT to teach us about infections. But-reader beware!!-the story of germs is filled with twists and turns. In this fascinating, highly visual nonfiction book packed with colorful, comic-style art, you'll discover not only the cool ways that animal bodies (and our bodies) fight back against pesky pathogens, but also the amazing and surprising ways we can learn to work together with germs.

An ALA Notable book An Orbis Pictus Recommended title When Heather L. Montgomery sees a rattlesnake flattened on the side of the road, her first instinct is to pick it up and dissect it--she's always wanted to see how a snake's fangs retract when they close their mouths, and it's not exactly safe to poke around in a live reptile's mouth. A wildlife researcher with a special penchant for the animals that litter the roadways, Heather isn't satisfied with dissecting just one snake. Her fascination with roadkill sets her off on a journey from her own backyard and the roadways of the American South to scientists and kids in labs and homes across the globe. From biologists who use the corpses of Tasmanian devils to investigate cures for a contagious cancer, to a scientist who discovered a whole new species of bird from a single wing left behind, to a boy rebuilding animal bodies from the bones up, to a restaurant that serves up animal remnants, Heather discovers that death is just the beginning for these creatures. This engaging narrative nonfiction is an eye-opening and irreverent look at the dead and dying animals that we pass by without a second thought--as well as a fascinating insight to the scientific research process.

"A science educator honors children's curiosity and pockets full of "stuff" by introducing nine scientists who collected natural treasures when they were young. Collecting, sorting, and playing with shells, stones, and other objects taught these young people how to observe, classify, and discover"--

Scientists, engineers, veterinarians, even college students--people all over the world are discovering the power of poop. A guy in England powers a street lamp with pet poo. A scientist uses scat to solve the mystery of a vanishing cave-dwelling critter. Undergrads turn astronaut waste into plastic – for use as a wrench on Mars! Poop, doo-doo, scat, feces, whatever you call it, it's everywhere. And it's disgusting. But in this book, you'll see that this waste is packed with potential. It's a window into the world of wildlife, and some people are willing to go to extremes to make use of this so-called crap. One woman spent three months videotaping elephants, giraffes, and rhinos pooping in the zoo. In a quest for precious cheetah poo another scientist army-crawled through the mud risking her life between an adult elephant and a water buffalo. And every week an entire team of folks swallow their pride and deliver their own poop to medical facilities. There, someone swirls, separates, and ships it off to a hospital to be transplanted into another human. In journalistic style similar to Something Rotten, this middle grade narrative nonfiction follows the author as she asks the question: Who uses poo? Although it is packed with potty humor, this narrative holds weighty matter too: The discovery of a nutrient cycle that powers the ocean ecosystem. Solutions for the energetic needs of our society. Poo even has the power to save human lives.