Discover how each animal hunts, what it eats, and where it can be found. Most importantly, learn about the physical and behavioral adaptations that have made them supreme predators in their realms.

Plants sit at the bottom of the food chain. They provide meals for the vast majority of animals on earth, but what if the food chain were upset? Strange as it may sound, there are places on virtually every continent where plants are the hunters and animals the hunted. Some plants move so quickly that insects do not know what hit them. Others lay elaborate traps to lure their prey. Featuring stunning full-color photographs, informative sidebars, and accessible text, this book will fascinate young readers as it introduces them to real meat-eating plants of the world.

Bring key school subjects to life for your child with The New Children's Encyclopedia. With hundreds of topics, thousands of fantastic pictures, your child will find countless ways to find out more about everything. Open up a whole universe of knowledge and wonder for your child. Starting with an exciting voyage through outer space, they'll explore the living world, people and places and even have an under-the-skin encounter with the workings of the human body. Perfect for dipping in and out of, or for reading through, your child will learn from special features including maps, charts, timelines and thousands of facts on key curriculum topics. Perfect for homework, projects or just for fun!

In this illuminating and evocative exploration of the origin and function of storytelling, the author goes beyond the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell, arguing that mythmaking evolved as a cultural survival strategy for coping with the constant fear of being killed and eaten by predators. Beginning nearly two million years ago in the Pleistocene era, the first stories, Trout argues, functioned as alarm calls, warning fellow group members about the carnivores lurking in the surroundings. At the earliest period, before the development of language, these rudimentary "stories" would have been acted out. When language appeared with the evolution of the ancestral human brain, stories were recited, memorized, and much later written down as the often bone-chilling myths that have survived to this day. This book takes the reader through the landscape of world mythology to show how our more recent ancestors created myths that portrayed animal predators in four basic ways: as monsters, as gods, as benefactors, and as role models. Each incarnation is a variation of the fear-management technique that enabled early humans not only to survive but to overcome their potentially incapacitating fear of predators. In the final chapter, Trout explores the ways in which our visceral fear of predators is played out in the movies, where both animal and human predators serve to probe and revitalize our capacity to detect and survive danger. Anyone with an interest in mythology, archaeology, folk tales, and the origins of contemporary storytelling will find this book an exciting and provocative exploration into the natural and psychological forces that shaped human culture and gave rise to storytelling and mythmaking.

Research indicates boys are interested in reading nonfiction materials, yet most children's librarians prefer to booktalk fiction. Offering citations for more than 1,100 books, Gotcha for Guys! deals specifically with books to pique the interest of middle grade boys. A series of booktalks are grouped within chapters with like titles such as: Creepy-Crawly Creatures, Disasters and Unsolved Mysteries, Action and Innovation, and All Things Gross. Complete booktalks are presented in a beginning section of chapters 1-9. A second section in each of these chapters contains short annotations and talks for other books of interest, and a third section offers lists of well-reviewed titles to consider for boys. The book is enhanced with book cover art and reproducible lists for teachers and librarians.

In the sea there are many stories and legends that tell of tales of sea species that are too gruesome for some of us to even imagine. The elders speak of fish from hell. I'm going to tell you an epic story of a sea monster with killer jaws that live in the swamp, the hidden marshes of Florida; this is the story of the giant piranha. This is the story of a carnivorous fish one which doesnt stop until it knows there is nothing left not even a trace of flesh. Maybe their hunger has no quench, maybe they're nature's revenge mother natures way of saying keep out or maybe they just enjoy the misery and pain they cause. This is a recount of a horrific legend one that invades your mind unnerves your senses gives chills to your spine. The beast has caused the deaths of many people; it has tainted the waters so many times that red water in this region only seems natural, taking away every living being from its path. Many people have disappeared in the marshes, was it the piranhas, with their killer jaws, are all the legends real? Innocent people disappear, mourners left without bodies to cry or bury, children left without parents and parents left without children, they all have one thing in common they visited a river, a lagoon, or a swamp in which they did come in, but they did not come out. The elders all speak but no one listens. No one pays attention to what the old people have to say, everyone rule out their stories a dementia or that its just a tall tale to get attention. Nobody believes in the sea creatures, in the river killers but i tell different I tell you to believe.

Put aside everything you thought you knew about being human - about how we got here and what it all means. Australian theoretical biologist Danny Vendramini has developed a theory of human origins that is stunning in its simplicity, yet breathtaking in its scope and importance. Them and Us: how Neanderthal predation created modern humans begins with a radical reassessment of Neanderthals. He shows they weren't docile omnivores, but savage, cannibalistic carnivores - top flight predators of the stone age. Neanderthal Predation (NP) theory reveals that Neanderthals were 'apex' predators - who resided at the top of the food chain, and everything else - including humans - was their prey. NP theory is one of those groundbreaking ideas that revolutionizes scientific thinking. It represents a quantum leap in our understanding of human origins.