Animal Sciences

The watery habitats of the world are home to a more varied and concentrated array of animal life than anywhere on dry land. This guide contains an explanation of how certain key animal groups have evolved to live and breed within their different environments. The detailed directory section provides a comprehensive overview to the vast array of marine and freshwater life that inhabit the globe. Each profile features a descriptive identification guide and contains a map to pinpoint distribution, plus information on habitat, size, breeding and more. This visual encyclopedia offers an insight into the wonderful world of freshwater and marine creatures.

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Packed with elegant, soulful portraits that are impossible to resist.

On each page is a gorgeous full-colour photograph that captures its subject’s iconic attitude, playfulness, and independent spirit. A curious-looking hairless Sphynx with oversize ears. An adventurous orange kitten stretched out in mid-leap. And a jet-black cat with stunning yellow eyes. Charming captions enhance the exquisite images, for a delightful gallery of cats to adorn your desktop, all year long.

Printed on responsibly sourced paper.

Page-a-Day® Gallery Calendars include 160 sheets of glossy, high quality paper printed with gorgeous full-colour photographs. Each calendar is packaged in a clear plastic box that opens into a desktop easel for elegant, inspiring display.

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Dive beneath the waves to meet 80 of the ocean’s strangest and most surprising inhabitants.

This beautifully illustrated aquatic world tour tells the fascinating stories of beguiling sea creatures and their ingenious feats of survival – from producing anti-freeze to enduring boiling temperatures – revealing the ways in which these seemingly remote creatures have shaped our own lives, whether through medicine, culture or folklore.

Around the Ocean in 80 Fish and Other Sea Life is a timely and gorgeous celebration of our watery world and the marvellous creatures that call it home.

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Updated for today’s beginning horse enthusiasts! 

If you’re just getting into the world of horses, there’s a lot to learn! Horses For Dummies gets beginning-level riders and aspiring first-time horse owners up to speed on all things equine! From selecting the right horse for you to feeding, grooming, and handling a horse, this book covers it all!

Featuring updates on breeds, boarding, nutrition, equipment, training, and riding―as well as new information on various equine conditions―this resource shows you how to keep your horse happy and take your riding skills to the next level.

• Features updated safety information 
• Includes more riding disciplines
• Offers tips for better nutrition for your horse
• Provides grooming and training recommendations

If you’re crazy about horses, this hands-on guide is all you need to giddy up and go!

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We know that there were dogs in Victorian Britain, but who were the ‘Doggy People’ who kept them, bred them, showed them, worked with them and cared for them? Chapter by chapter, this book reveals the varied and often eccentric lives of the Victorians who helped define dogs as we know them today. The cast runs from the very pinnacle of society, Queen Victoria, to near the bottom with Jemmy Shaw, a publican, boxer, promoter of dog-fights and rat-killing. The others include an artist, aristocrats, authors, a clergyman, doctors, a dog-dealer, a feminist, journalists, landowners, millionaires, philanthropists, politicians, scientists, a stockbroker, veterinarians, and a showman – none other their Charles Cruft. Looking at the invention and meaning of new breeds such as poodles, collies, Jack Russells, and borzois amongst others, we see how the Victorians thought about pets, sports, dog shows and animal rights.

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‘Beautifully crafted, fascinating and unbearably poignant, I totally loved this book’. Isabella Tree, author of Wilding

‘Gow reinvents what it means to be a guardian of the countryside’. Guardian

Author of Bringing Back the Beaver and Britain’s favourite maverick rewilder Derek Gow embarks on an adventure to uncover the mythology, mystery and history of wolves in Britain.

Derek Gow’s dream is that one day we will see the return of the wolf to Britain. Wolf rewilding projects have been successfully implemented across the world – so what is holding us back in the UK?

Hunt for the Shadow Wolf is Derek’s quest to uncover the true nature of this magnificent creature. As Derek worked to reintroduce the beaver, he began to hear stories of the wolf, both real and mythical, and his fascination with it grew. He pieced together fragments of information, stories and artefacts to reveal a shadowy creature that first walked proud through these lands and then was hunted to extinction.

What Derek came to realise was that the underlying motives behind our hatred were actually rooted in power and profit. We turned the wolf into a savage beast and saw its extirpation as a civilising mission. But the wolf endured and Derek tells of his sightings through folklore and mythology, the records of grand estates and parish churches as well as wolf heads, both real and recreated.

With bitingly funny but also tender stories, Hunt for the Shadow Wolf makes clear why we must reconcile our relationship with this majestic animal before we can begin to bring it back to these lands.

‘Gow has a fire in his belly. We need more like him.’ BBC Wildlife Magazine

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This comprehensive guide is the most complete owner’s manual for keeping all types of freshwater and marine fish. The book will take you through all the options in choosing the right fish for any water temperature – tropical and coldwater – and for all types of environment – indoor aquariums or outdoor ponds. Know the difference between keeping marine fish and freshwater fish, including differences in aquarium setups, and feeding and caring for your pet fish. Learn to tell if your fish are healthy and find out everything you need to breed them successfully. The Encyclopedia of Aquarium & Pond Fish contains a huge photographic colour reference directory of over 800 of the most popular fish, which not only shows you what they look like, but also gives you the key information you need, such as how big they will grow, whether they integrate with different fish, what food they eat, and what water type and temperature they prefer.

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Bring your favourite scenes from the Harry Potter films to life with the first official Wizarding World watercolour book.

Harry Potter: Watercolour Magic includes over 30 easy-to-complete watercolour projects featuring fan-favourite characters, creatures, places and icons from the films. From the classic Hogwarts crest to the Sorting Hat and the Knight Bus, the pages burst with opportunities for fans to create gorgeous Wizarding World art.

Each project features a light sketch of the image to get you started plus a list of supplies needed and colours, followed by clear, easy-to-follow instructions to help you recreate the image in minutes. The book is printed on high-quality watercolour paper that you can put paint straight on, and the pages are perforated so they are easy to remove for framing or display.

Harry Potter: Watercolour Magic is perfect for artists of every skill level looking for a fun, easy art project.

Copyright © 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WIZARDING WORLD characters, names and related indicia are © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. – WB SHIELD: © & ™ WBEI. Publishing Rights © JKR. (s21)

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South-east Asia is one of the richest and most diverse parts of the world in terms of mammals, and species new to science are still being described on a regular basis. The only comprehensive guide to mammals of the region has now been revised and updated to include more than 50 additional species. From large mammals such as big cats, the elephant and cetaceans, through bears, langurs and badgers, to bats, flying-foxes and rodents, more than 550 species are described in detail, including key identification characteristics, habitat, behaviour, distribution and status, accompanied by line drawings of footprints and details of anatomy or other aspects of identification. Specially commissioned colour plates beautifully depict nearly all species and their variations, while accompanying range maps provide up-to-date information on distribution. With the continuing worldwide threat to wildlife and habitats, this remains a timely and important field guide that will appeal to travellers, wildlife enthusiasts, and students of mammals alike.

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Make your puppy look as perfect as you know they are

When Fido is getting a bit too fluffy and Milo is downright mangy, it might just be time for a trim to get your pup looking their best. But where do you even begin? Dog Grooming For Dummies walks you through exactly how to groom your dog so they come out looking like they could win an award at the American Kennel Club, every time!

You’ll learn about prepping your canine for the shears, bathing your dog, cutting and brushing fur, all without help from a professional dog groomer. From the most down-on-their-luck rescue dog to pampered designer doodles, you’ll discover how to use the latest equipment and supplies to get people asking, “Did you get a new pup?” (Nope! They just look like one!)

In the book, you’ll get:

• A totally revamped section on the impact of canine nutrition on your pet’s coat
• New information on how to go about hiring a professional dog groomer and what qualifications you should look for
• Practical and hands-on advice on becoming a mobile, professional dog groomer

A fantastic and page-turning read full of step-by-step explanations, product suggestions, tips, and techniques, Dog Grooming For Dummies is the one-stop resource you need to stop chasing your tail and start washing, cutting, and styling your pooch into perfection.

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Everything the first time fish-keeper needs to know to set up a tank. Clear, easy-to-follow instructions help you create and develop your aquarium – whether it’s coldwater, tropical or marine. Charts and tables show how to deal with ailments and diseases, and there’s a guide to the most common fish. There are profiles of over 100 tropical, marine and coldwater fish, as well as plants and invertebrates.

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Kayaking the Sea Roads is a personal journey by sea kayak into the heart of the sea roads that make up our Scottish Highlands and islands. Blending the intensity of the journey with a careful observation of the natural world and first-hand knowledge of the challenges of living and working in this place, the author reminds us that mother nature, vast and resilient, is still out there beyond our mobile phones and urban lives. For those with the eyes to see, its natural rhythms can awaken a deep sense of wonder and give us cause to become part of the environmental recovery so sorely needed. With Ed, we travel low in the water with the restless sea ever present and we camp with him on remote rough shores. We share his feelings of wonder at the natural world, his fear at the exposure to rough seas and we encounter with him not just the myriad animals and birds that share his every day but also the people, their communities and the often gnarly rural issues impacting on human and animal alike. Alongside a deeply felt appreciation of the natural environment is a first-hand insight into the environmental and land-management issues pertinent to the Highland coast. By exploring, for instance, the impact of native versus non-native species, of community land ownership, of tourism, hunting and the varied other uses and indeed non-uses of coastal lands and seas, the readers’ eyes are opened to a Scottish Highlands that is so much more than just a pretty view. At the surface, this is an adventure story, but at its heart, it is a tale about belonging and a deep sense of place; and it is a journey home, home in the end to where the author’s Highland love affair began.

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• Barbara Rae’s sketchbooks bring the frozen plains of the Arctic immediately to life
• Replicates the look and feel of the original sketchbooks

These sketchbooks, the work of the acclaimed Scottish artist Barbara Rae CBE RA during her three journeys towards the Northwest Passage in the depths of the Arctic Circle in 2015, 2016 and 2017, record in colourful and assured brush strokes the icebergs, frozen bays and snowdrifts of this often hostile landscape. Polar bears roam and the Northern Lights dance across its pages, accompanied by Rae’s handwritten notes in which she records her experiences and her immediate reactions to this harsh, unforgiving environment.

Each page of the sketchbooks is meticulously reproduced, and the handsomely bound volume sits comfortably in the hand, making it the perfect gift for anyone interested in painting or exploration.

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Have you ever wondered what your dog is really thinking?

Our dogs mean the world to us and as owners we do our best to make sure they feel happy and loved, whilst also keeping them in line when needed. But wouldn’t it be so much easier if we spoke the same language and could ask what they were thinking or feeling?

In his latest book, top dog trainer, Graeme Hall, reveals the secrets to understanding what your furry companion is trying to say and how they see the world. Drawing on 15 years of experience training over 5,000 dogs, and backed up with scientific evidence, he tackles all the tricky questions you’ve ever wanted to ask, such as ‘how do I tell my dog he’s been naughty?’ and ‘how long does a dog remember?’.

Sharing his own personal stories and practical tips, Graeme demonstrates how to interpret your dog’s body language and use that knowledge to build a stronger, more rewarding relationship, as well as how to avoid common mistakes. Whether you’re a seasoned dog owner or a new pup parent, this book will change the way you think about your four-legged best friend.

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Animals are a perennial favourite amongst artists, but many struggle with capturing their form and character in a way that reflects the true spirit of the animal. In this bright, breezy and accessible book, Jo Allsopp’s genuine passion for wildlife is clear. That love is reflected in her art, and her loose, lively and dynamic style is one that many wish to emulate.

Including a broad range of animals from around the world – everything from red squirrels to peacocks, lions and housecats – this book will inspire and instruct beginner artists, appeal to animal-loving hobby artists, and provide new ideas for more advanced artists who wish to loosen up their style and take a more experimental approach to their watercolour painting. It includes:

• A section exploring inspiration and motivation
• Short practical exercises to help you loosen up and try things out
• A close look at Jo’s way of painting, which demystifies the process and includes drawing techniques
• 3 pure watercolour projects and 9 incorporating mixed media
• Fully illustrated projects that are explained step-by-step, showing you how to personalise your pictures.

Jo’s technique is very wet into wet, with lots of blooms, vivid colours, and striking contrasts and texture achieved by the addition of wax resist, salt, spatter and scratching out.

Jo uses an exciting range of art media and techniques in her work. The main medium is watercolour, but to this she adds ink, water-soluble and permanent pens; bleach; isopropyl alcohol; bronzing powders; metallic leaf and acrylic inks. All are explored and explained to show the effects that can be achieved and when and how to use them.

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Calling on the ‘Blue Mind’ benefits of the sea and using mindful practices alongside empowering nature rituals, this guided journal provides a space to calm the mind and to reflect, helping stimulate self-knowledge, create intuitive flow to prompt transformation.

An inspiring and empowering journal for Sea lovers. A compassionate guide to awakening the wisdom of the ocean within and charting a fresh path towards a bright new horizon. Pippa’s words and prose bring the healing power of the ocean to life’s challenges through Ocean stories, journaling prompts, evocative water rituals and simple mindful practices to support your mind, body and soul – all inspired by the ocean.

The journal uses the four stages of the tides: High, Ebbing, Low and Rising as a framework to represent four Ocean themes; Self-Compassion, Letting Go, Moving Forward, and Gratitude & Awe. Within each theme, you will find simple activities for you to follow to help activate your ‘blue mind’.

Use this journal to create insightful moments of ‘blue mind’ peace in your day, and to seek out greater self-compassion, gratitude and awe. Be inspired to dive into your intuition, to release what no longer serves you, and to build the momentum and inner resources you need to move forward towards your dreams each day, wave by wave. You don’t need to be by the water to use this journal: let it bring the ocean to you when you need it most. And let your journey onwards be guided by the sea.

Can be used alongside the Sea Soul Journeys Oracle Cards or on its own.

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‘BEAUTIFULLY, A BOOK ABOUT BIRDS’ The Sunday Times | ‘ENGAGING AND EYE-OPENING’ The Countryman

Uncover the life of owls through this beautiful guide to these secretive and charismatic birds from the bestselling author of The Robin, The Wren, and The Swan.

Owls are among the most mysterious birds in the world. Their hauntingly beautiful calls and mostly nocturnal habits have long captured our collective imagination, inspiring more superstitions, folktales, and myths than any other group of birds. Seven species of owl – the tawny, little, barn, long-eared, short-eared, snowy and eagle owl – can be found in the British Isles (out of sixteen different kinds across Europe). They have lived alongside people for thousands of years, yet we still know so little about their day-to-day lives.

Discover their fascinating lives, from the moment they first hatch, to the way they hunt their prey and how they raise the next generation. Explore the rich folklore they’ve inspired around the world and learn how, with a bit of luck, you can catch a glimpse of them yourself.

With beautiful illustrations throughout, and expert birdwatching tips, this eye-opening biography reveals the hidden secrets of one of the world’s most famous and beloved birds and is the perfect gift for birdwatchers and nature lovers.

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Ireland’s seashores are famous for their spectacular beauty, ranging from exposed rocky headlands that receive the full power of the Atlantic to enclosed sea loughs and sheltered mudflats. Our northern latitude means that some Arctic species find a home here, but the warm currents that flow up from the Gulf of Mexico also make Irish shores habitable for species found in southern Europe, the Canaries and the Mediterranean. Providing habitats like no other, our coasts are teeming with plant and animal life. Whether you visit on a sunny summer day or for a wild walk in winter, there is always something interesting to see, either living on the shore or washed up from the sea. Beginning with clear background information on types of shore, tides, waves, coastal habitats and conservation, this highly accessible guide has everything you need to understand the wildlife on our coastline. A helpful identification guide uses simple questions (e.g. `Does it have a shell?’) to guide you to the correct section (e.g. `Snails, mussels and their relatives’), where you will find an introduction to the species, followed by detailed entries on the most common shoreline inhabitants: Irish and Latin names, size, distribution and memorable nuggets of information (did you know banded wedge shells can leap if disturbed?). Written by qualified marine biologists with a passion for their subject, this is the ideal companion on any seashore ramble, whether you are a beginner or an experienced naturalist.

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In Fish, Fishing and the Meaning of Life Jeremy Paxman creates the perfect literary catch for fellow angling enthusiasts in this rich and varied anthology.

‘A superb compilation because it roams from carp to cod, trout to tarpon and does not regurgitate the same old clippings’ Independent on Sunday.

Each chapter is introduced by Paxman’s own sharp, humorous observations and features both contemporary and historical writing about fishing in prose and verse, covering everything from tench tickling to piranha attacks. Some pieces are well known favourites, others are obscure, every one is a delight.

Jeremy Paxman is a journalist, best known for his work presenting Newsnight and University Challenge. His books include Empire, On Royalty, The English and The Political Animal. He lives in Oxfordshire.

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