ANIMAL TAILS is a collection of humorous poems about animal characters. It features hand painted characters set against a photographic backdrop of their environment. This book draws attention to the need for conservation of natural habitats, as a mixture of man-made and natural ecological changes threaten the homes of these animals and for some their very existence.

This is a story about Rhino. A plush toy who finds himself living in a Carnival Booth at an amusement park in Atlanta. Most days are filled with fun and adventure, but there's a problem: it seems like all of the other toys are being chosen by children and no one seems to even look at Rhino. Rhino starts to worry about what will happen to him in September when the Amusement park closes.

There are five surviving species of rhinoceros: the Black, the Javan and the Sumatran rhinos are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning they could be extinct within 30-60 years. The Sumatran rhino is covered in a leathery, dark grey-brown skin. It is often called the “hairy rhino” because it has tufty reddish brown hair, unlike other rhinos. The Sumatran rhino is the only rhino in Asia that has two horns, however the smaller one never grows to more than about ten centimetres, which can make it look like it only has one horn. This rhino used to be found from the foothills of the Himalayas, through Eastern China right down to Peninsular Malaysia as well as the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo. However, today it is believed only about 200 rhinos survive mainly in parts of Sumatra and possibly Peninsula Malaysia. The Sumatran rhino lives in dense forests, swamps and forest highlands, staying close to water where they spend most of their day wallowing in muddy pools that they often dig or deepen themselves to keep them cool and protect them against insects. They like to eat in the evening and before dawn when it is cooler and live off up to 100 different types of fruit, bamboo, twigs, leaves and bark! Sumatran rhinos are rather shy, solitary animals staying within their own home range. The young usually stay with their mother until they are about 18 months old. Rhinos begin breeding when they are 7 or 8 years old, with a wait of 3 to 4 years between each birth. As the gestation period is about 15 to 16 months and not always successful, these animals are seriously at risk. The Sumatran rhino is the most endangered of all of the rhinoceros species, numbers have fallen more than 50% over the past 20 years, mainly because of poaching and habitat destruction. Rhino Protection Units help protect them and give this vulnerable species a chance at breeding and surviving. Further information about this gentle (if sometimes grumpy) animal can be found through ARKIVE: www.arkive.com and the International Rhino Foundation: www.rhinos.org.

The deadliest animal on Earth is also one of the smallest. The mosquito is a vector, or carrier, of diseases that kill millions of people every year. Readers learn about how and why this is, among other facts about animals with other deadly defenses. Full-color photographs highlight the powerful jaws of the grizzly bear, the huge horn of the rhino, and much more. Readers can see some of the world’s predators closer than would be possible, even in a zoo! In addition, fact boxes describe each animal’s behavior, size, and even endangered status.

They have magical, rhythmic, rhyming text so students will want to read and re-read them over and over. For teachers, a different teaching focus is suggested for each day: - Day 1: Comprehension - Day 2: Vocabulary - Day 3: Flow/Phrasing/Fluency - Day 4: Phonic Knowledge, Phonemic Awareness - Day 5: Oral, Written and Visual Language The FOCUS PANEL provides prompts to support each focus. 1 copy of 1 Big Book.

Jumbo was a superstar of the Victorian era. Every day tens of thousands of people would visit this adored animal known as “the Children’s Pet” or, more simply, “the Giant Elephant,” at the London Zoo. When P.T. Barnum purchased him for his Greatest Show on Earth, Jumbo’s transport to the U.S. made headlines for weeks, and he was an instant sensation in America. His name entered our lexicon as an adjective for oversized things, and half a century after his death his still-famous and unrivalled popularity was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Dumbo. But fame comes at a price and, like so many modern celebrities, Jumbo led a troubled private life that was far from idyllic. His best friend – a zookeeper named Matthew Scott, who remained by Jumbo’s side in Britain and the United States for twenty years – was moody and manipulative, and Jumbo himself attracted rumors of violent tantrums, a fondness for drink, and of a “wife” he left behind in order to make it big in America. From an eyewitness account of Jumbo’s capture in Africa after ivory hunters had killed his parents, to his early years at the Paris zoo where he was mistreated and regarded as a disappointing runt, to his stunning growth spurt in London where he became the largest elephant in captivity, to the “Jumbo craze” that swept across Britain and the United States, Paul Chambers utilizes new archival material in fully telling Jumbo’s story for the first time.