The Secret Animal Society needs to help an old friend - Spike. The Secret Animal Society - an organisation which protects those very rare animals few people know even exist - is located in a remote valley close to the sea. When twins Eddie and Izzie move there with their family, they're very disappointed that many of the animals keep themselves hidden. In fact, the only one they see regularly is Cornflake the dragon. Noah, the old caretaker, tells them that it's normal - there are some creatures that they haven't seen for years. Then there's a sighting of an unidentified creature far out at sea, which seems to be heading to the sanctuary. The media goes into a frenzy - is it some sort of sea monster, a giant squid or octopus, perhaps? But it's really a sea serpent (a plesiosaur). Noah recognises its song - it's Spike, one of his favourite animals who no one's seen for years. But now Spike is returning to the society, and it sounds like he's in distress. It turns out he's got his baby with him, who's sick, and he's hoping the society can help.

Twins Eddie and Izzie love animals. They want to look after ALL the school pets in the holidays - but the only one left is the grumpy lizard. The lizard cheers up once he goes home with them and eats the food he likes - they name him after his favourite. Then Cornflake grows two bumps on his back, which gradually turn into wings . . . He's really a dragon! The twins know they have to keep such a rare animal secret, but it's hard in a small flat, especially when Cornflake starts breathing fire. Then a man turns up asking awkward questions and they really start to worry . . .

A sweet and gentle story about sisters, trust, parrots, disappearing . . . and doing the right thing. Eight-year-old Izzy is more curious, playful and clumsy than her serious, grown-up sister Carrie. In fact Izzy is much more like Gran, an eccentric scientist who has a house full of weird and wonderful pets. But when one of Gran's experiments backfires, Izzy discovers that she has the ability to become invisible! That is, unless Perky the parrot is perched on her shoulder, or she has one of his feathers safely stowed in her pocket. Yikes! While Gran searches for an antidote, Izzy explores her invisibility - to her and Perky's amusement - but Mum, Dad and Carrie aren't impressed. Can Izzy prove that she is using her invisibility to help those around her, and regain her sister's trust?

Can the baby Bigfoot, Snowball, be reunited with his family? At the Secret Animal Society Sanctuary, hidden away in a remote corner of the country, Christmas is approaching. There's lots to organise with the winter weather drawing in, and all the endangered and rare animals to care for. Even fire-breathing dragons need food and shelter! When twins Eddie and Izzie and their family are awakened by two yetis just before the schools break up for Xmas, they realise through sign language that a baby Bigfoot has gone missing. It is starting to snow again - finding a baby animal with white fur is going to be difficult. Eddie, Izzie and their little brother Toby all have to get to school for the end of term costume party so reluctantly they head out and the search continues without them. At school, Toby discovers one of the children crying outside wearing a snowman costume. When the little boy doesn't talk Toby names him Snowball and tries to look after him. It's not long before the teacher realises what's happening and that it's not a child in costume after all! Snowball is taken to the zoo and it's up to Izzie and Eddie, with the help of Beth from the sanctuary, to sort out some quick costume changes and a rescue plan involving a sleigh powered by Cornflake the dragon. . .

Offers thousands of animal facts and records that identify animals in such categories as fastest, oldest, and biggest, as well as smelliest, loudest, and deadliest.

A comprehensive guide to cryptozoology—the quest to identify animals that have not been officially catalogued by science and to place these unknown animals into their proper zoological categories. In this fascinating two-volume encyclopedia, author George M. Eberhart provides a comprehensive catalog of nearly 1,000 cryptids—unknown animals usually reported through eyewitness accounts and not yet described by science. Cryptids are the stuff of folklore, hoaxes, and genuine scientific breakthroughs. There are 400 now-classified cryptids once considered either extinct or pure fantasy. The cryptozoologist's job is to strip away the myth, misidentification, and mystery—and separate fact from fiction. Mysterious Creatures covers everything from dinosaurs and the emala-ntouka, an elephant-killing dinosaur-like animal of central Africa, to searches for the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot, and other cryptozoological hoaxes. Entries about specific animals include the derivation or meaning of each cryptid's name, its scientific name, variant names, a physical description, behavior, description of tracks, habitat, significant sightings, present status, and possible explanations. Illustrations and photographs accompany many entries. The book also includes resources and references for further information.

How our collective intelligence has helped us to evolve and prosper Humans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters, or avoiding predators. On the other hand, human groups have produced ingenious technologies, sophisticated languages, and complex institutions that have permitted us to successfully expand into a vast range of diverse environments. What has enabled us to dominate the globe, more than any other species, while remaining virtually helpless as lone individuals? This book shows that the secret of our success lies not in our innate intelligence, but in our collective brains—on the ability of human groups to socially interconnect and learn from one another over generations. Drawing insights from lost European explorers, clever chimpanzees, mobile hunter-gatherers, neuroscientific findings, ancient bones, and the human genome, Joseph Henrich demonstrates how our collective brains have propelled our species' genetic evolution and shaped our biology. Our early capacities for learning from others produced many cultural innovations, such as fire, cooking, water containers, plant knowledge, and projectile weapons, which in turn drove the expansion of our brains and altered our physiology, anatomy, and psychology in crucial ways. Later on, some collective brains generated and recombined powerful concepts, such as the lever, wheel, screw, and writing, while also creating the institutions that continue to alter our motivations and perceptions. Henrich shows how our genetics and biology are inextricably interwoven with cultural evolution, and how culture-gene interactions launched our species on an extraordinary evolutionary trajectory. Tracking clues from our ancient past to the present, The Secret of Our Success explores how the evolution of both our cultural and social natures produce a collective intelligence that explains both our species' immense success and the origins of human uniqueness.