National Network for Equitable Library Service

Ripley's Believe It or Not meets National Geographic in this book about some of the grossest yet most fascinating ways animals have adapted to survive. Survival of the Grossest explores how some of the most effective -- and often truly foul -- survival adaptations in the animal world involve poop, mucus, spit, foul smells and sprays, nasty eating habits, disembodied body parts and zombification.

A collection of interesting facts about some of the biggest animals on the planet.

The adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the legendary Sherlock Holmes, come to life in this inspiring picture book biography. What if you wrote a story about a detective, and he became the most famous detective ever? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Or . . . would it?

A perfect STEM resource: This illustrated tour of our "leftover" body parts (like the appendix, or even goosebumps) introduces readers age 7-11 to the bizarre and fascinating science of evolution. Welcome to the weirdest museum you'll ever explore--the one inside your body. Did you know your amazing, incredible body is a walking, talking museum of evolution?

Smiley, a most remarkable Golden Retriever, was born without eyes. He was rescued from a puppy mill and has become a superb therapy dog, providing therapy to people all over the world through social media and television. This is his story. Winner of the 2018 Silver Birch Express Award. Winner of the 2019 Red Cedar Information Book Award. Winner of the 2019 Hackmatack Award for non-fiction. Grades 4-6. 2017.

The plight of refugees risking their lives at sea has, unfortunately, made the headlines all too often in the past few years. This book presents five true stories, from 1939 to today, about young people who lived through the harrowing experience of setting sail in search of asylum: Ruth and her family board the St. Louis to escape Nazism; Phu sets out alone from war-torn Vietnam; José tries to reach the United States from Cuba; Najeeba flees Afghanistan and the Taliban; and after losing his family, Mohamed abandons his village on the Ivory Coast in search of a new life. Grades 4-7.

For hundreds of thousands of years Great Auks thrived in the icy seas of the North Atlantic, bobbing on the waves, diving for fish and struggling up onto rocky shores to mate and hatch their fluffy chicks. But by 1844, not a single one of these magnificent birds was alive. They could swim swiftly underwater, but their small wings meant they couldn't fly and their feet were so far back on their bodies, they couldn't walk very well.

As a young boy, David Suzuki loved spending time in the glorious British Columbia outdoors with his father. The racist policies against Japanese Canadians during World War II put an abrupt end to that when David's family was sent to a Japanese internment camp in 1942. After the war, the Suzuki family was forced to leave B.C., settling in Ontario. David immersed himself in learning, earning a PhD in zoology, becoming a professor, and eventually taking his love of science education into the public sphere with his shows on CBC radio and television.

Despite it's characterization in the rest of the world as a land of bush and blizzards, Canada is a country of geographical and climatic variations. It experiences just about every type of extreme weather possible - tornadoes, droughts, dust storms, ice storms, hail storms, hurricanes, floods - in addition to lots of snowstorms. The weather is rarely boring and there are times when it has been so extreme, it has surprised everyone. Grades 4-7. 2005.

Tracing the history of African Americans in Tulsa's Greenwood district, this book chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community. News of what happened was largely suppressed, and no official investigation into the Tulsa Race Massacre occurred for seventy-five years. Sensitively introducing young audiences to this tragedy, Unspeakable concludes with a call for a better future. Please note that you may download an accompanying PDF that provides enhanced materials for this audiobook.