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Catching Air

Taking the Leap with Gliding Animals
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( 20 ratings, 4 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Catching Air explores the fascinating world of gliding animals, from North America's flying squirrels to Australia's sugar gliders. Through vivid photographs, the book journeys across rainforests worldwide to uncover why gliding has developed in creatures such as Draco lizards, snakes, frogs, and various mammals. It delves into evolutionary questions, including why gliders do not truly fly, how bats evolved powered flight, and whether human gliding in wingsuits and hang gliders represents a new form of evolution.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$1899
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in animal adaptations and natural history, particularly children and young adults who appreciate engaging educational content with striking visuals.

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*NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book*Β  *Junior Library Guild Selection 2017* Only a few dozen vertebrate animals have evolved true gliding abilities, but they include an astonishing variety of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

North America's flying squirrels and Australia's sugar gliders notwithstanding, the vast majority of them live in rainforests.

Illustrated with arresting photographs, Catching Air takes us around the world to meet these animals, learn why so many gliders live in Southeast Asia, and find out why this gravity-defying ability has evolved in Draco lizards, snakes, and frogs as well as mammals.

Why do gliders stop short of flying, how did bats make that final leap, and how did Homo sapiens bypass evolution to glide via wingsuits and hang glidersβ€”or is that evolution in another guise?

Series: How Nature Works

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    Blowholes, Book Gills, and Butt-Breathers explores a question unasked by any other book for young readers: What can we learn about nature and evolution from the bizarre and exotic ways some animals have evolved to get life-giving oxygen? An inquiry-based book designed to stimulate active minds; a STEM standout from a celebrated nature photographer and writer.
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  • Blowholes, Book Gills, and Butt-Breathers
    Blowholes, Book Gills, and Butt-Breathers explores a question unasked by any other book for young readers: What can we learn about nature and evolution from the bizarre and exotic ways some animals have evolved to get life-giving oxygen? An inquiry-based book designed to stimulate active minds; a STEM standout from a celebrated nature photographer and writer.
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  • Chasing Guano
    Poopβ€”guano, to be more specificβ€”and a lot of it. The culprit, she suspected, was a previously unnoticed colony of penguins. A big one. And their favourite food appeared to be pink krill. For a closer look, Heather built a team for an expedition to the Danger Islands, an area notorious for its unpredictable sea ice. Their mission was to count...
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  • One Iguana, Two Iguanas
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  • Tiny Titans
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  • Catching Air
    North America's flying squirrels and Australia's sugar gliders notwithstanding, the vast majority of them live in rainforests. Illustrated with arresting photographs, Catching Air takes us around the world to meet these animals, learn why so many gliders live in Southeast Asia, and find out why this gravity-defying ability has evolved in Draco lizards, snakes, and frogs as well as mammals....
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  • Extreme Survivors
    More than 99 percent of all life forms have gone extinct during the 3.6-billion-year history of life on Earth. Other organisms have changed dramatically, but not our extreme survivors. Evolution may have altered their physiology and behaviour, but their body plans have stood the test of time. How have these living links with Earth's prehistoric past survived? The search for...
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

"This informative book explores questions such as what adaptations in the animals’ bodies enable them to glide, why gliders throughout the world are forest dwellers, and how gliding helps them to survive... A respected science writer, Collard offers a well-researched, well-focused, and beautifully illustrated presentation of a topic seldom covered in children’s books." — Carolyn Phelan, Booklist
"An intriguing look at animal adaptation."Publishers Weekly

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780884488835

Publisher: Tilbury House,U.S.

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 May 2021

Country: United States

Imprint: Tilbury House,U.S.

Illustration: color photography

Audience: Children

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 8.0mm

Width: 206.0mm

Height: 257.0mm

Weight: 200g

Pages: 48

About the Author

Science writer Sneed B. Collard III (Missoula, MT; www.sneedbcollardiii.com) is the author of more than 80 children’s books, including One Iguana, Two Iguanasand Catching Air. He has received the Washington Post Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award for his body of work, and his books are featured regularly in the Junior Library Guild, NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book lists, and other best-of lists.

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