'A moving tribute that beautifully evokes the struggles, the initial triumphs, the setbacks, the unexpected and often stunning achievemnets . . . [while] uncovering cognitive abilities in Alex that no one believed were possible.'Publishers WeeklyOn September 6, 2007, an African Grey parrot named Alex died prematurely at age thirty-one. His last words to his owner, Irene Pepperberg, were 'You be good. I love you'.What would normally be a quiet, very private event was, in Alex's case, headline news. Over the thirty years they had worked together, Alex and Irene had become famous - two pioneers who opened an unprecedented window into the hidden yet vast world of animal minds. Alex's brain was the size of a shelled walnut, and when Irene and Alex first met, birds were not believed to possess any potential for language, consciousness, or anything remotely comparable to human intelligence. Yet, over the years, Alex proved many things. He could add. He could sound out words. He understood concepts like bigger, smaller, more, fewer, and none. He was capable of thought and intention. Together, Alex and Irene uncovered a startling reality: We live in a world populated by thinking, conscious creatures.The fame that resulted was extraordinary. Yet there was a side to their relationship that never made the papers. They were emotionally connected to one another. They shared a deep bond far beyond science. Alex missed Irene when she was away. He was jealous when she paid attention to other parrots, or even people. He liked to show her who was boss. He loved to dance. He sometimes became bored by the repetition of his tests, and played jokes on her. Sometimes they sniped at each other. Yet nearly every day, they each said, 'I love you'.Alex and Irene stayed together through thick and thin - despite sneers from experts, extraordinary financial sacrifices, and a nomadic existence from one university to another. The story of their thirty-year adventure is equally a landmark of scientific achievement and of an unforgettable human-animal bond.

These are the stories of Alex and the animals that share his world. Alex is five years old and has a very curious nature. Some of these stories are almost true, some of them may possibly be true and some of them are... well let's move on shall we? Read on and join Alex in his adventures!

In 1977, graduate student Irene Pepperberg walked into a pet store and bought a year-old African grey parrot. Because she was going to study him, she decided to call him Alex--short for Avian Learning EXperiment. At that time, most scientists thought that the bigger the brain, the smarter the creature; they studied great apes and dolphins. African greys, with their walnut-sized "birdbrains," were pretty much ignored--until Alex. His intelligence surprised everyone, including Irene. He learned to count, add, and subtract; to recognize shapes, sizes, and colors; and to speak, and understand, hundreds of words. These were things no other animal could do. Alex wasn't supposed to have the brainpower to do them, either. But he did them anyway. Accompanied by Meilo So's stunning illustrations, Alex and Irene's story is one of groundbreaking discoveries about animal intelligence, hard work, and the loving bonds of a unique friendship.

Presents a panoramic illustration of a different animal for each letter of the alphabet. On board pages.

Introduces lions, describing their physical characteristics, food, habitat, and behavior.

An electrifyingly dark teen thriller from the author of BEAST and QUARRY. Alex, Levi and Max follow the young soldiers from the local army camp on the moor. But harmless rivalry develops into something far more incendiary. When the boys discover a cache of buried weapons near the training grounds, deadly forces are brought into play.

It's time to write it all down. I don't know how much longer I'm going to stay. I'm writing it for me and I'm writing it for you, even though you'll probably never see it. I'm talking to you, Christa, and to no one else. Filled with yearning for lost love, writing against the backdrop of a world in chaos, Alex records an intimate account of his time with Christa, his half-Swedish girlfriend, who disappeared seven years earlier in opaque circumstances. In an isolated part of England, the lonely teenagers forge a defiant and passionate relationship. Alex's father is a bully and an alcoholic; Christa has her own profound family sorrows. The two bond over their deep love of music and a concern for animal welfare. But even as they exchange troubling secrets, sharing stories of cruelties suffered, losses endured, and vengeance taken, the couple become aware that a mysterious group of outsiders is watching over them, a group who would lure them to experiences more disturbing still. What do these strangers want? What are the bitter truths they want the young lovers to learn? And why are they convinced that the darkness within Christa is the key to the fate of the world? Though its central couple are adolescents, here is a book that explores startlingly adult terrain. Even as Alex and Christa are drawn into excitement and adventure, they must confront the inescapable horrors of existence: death, the twin traumas of consciousness and history, the fates of animals forced to share the planet with a truly ferocious species: us. Until they stand on the brink of changing everything - forever. Energetic, compulsively readable, The Animals Praise the Antichrist is nonetheless an exceptionally unsettling novel.