Go Inside Animal Homes with Mary Holland

Mary Holland’s popular Animal Anatomy and Adaptations series grew by one today. We release Animal Homes – a look at the way animals adapt to their environment and make their homes. Mary takes us inside the homes of beavers, bees, birds, and squirrels.

Let’s take a look…

You may have made a fort, using blankets and furniture, or put up a tent to go camping, but today we have a different kind of challenge for you. Can you make a house of cards?

What we learned. This only requires a deck of cards, but you need a steady hand and a lot of patience. Start building with two cards angled in a triangle. Once one is steady, start with another and cap them together by placing a card on top. We tried to make multiple levels, but our house folded several times.

Send us a photo of your card house to @Arbordalekids on Instagram and you could win a copy of Animal Homes. For more information about Mary’s latest Animal Anatomy and Adaptations title visit the book’s homepage.

Announcing new Fall Titles

Fall is Coming

The fall books have just arrived, and we are ready to share the shiny new covers with you! This week, we will highlight each of the titles and its creators individually, but get an overview today!

Teeth come in all shapes and sizes, just like their animal hosts. Some teeth are sharp to grab prey and tear apart the meat. Other teeth are flat to chew plants and some animals have both kinds to eat plants and animals. And That’s the Tooth delivers unique and fun facts about animal and human teeth through engaging riddles. With hints to help solve each riddle, children will be actively involved as they giggle, guess, and learn.


Just like humans, animals use their homes for shelter and to raise their young. Animal homes might be easy to see, or they may be hidden (camouflaged) for protection. Some animals are great builders and other animals borrow homes that other animals have made. Different animals might just use natural places like caves or holes in trees to make a home. And some animals might even carry their home on their back! Sticks, mud, leaves, cotton, and grass are all things that animals might use to build a home. Whether by digging, spinning, building or borrowing, animal homes are as varied as the animals themselves. This is a perfect sequel to Mary Holland’s Animal Anatomy and Adaptations series.


When a young river otter sneaks into a zoo, she wonders if she should be more like some of the other animals she meets. She wants a trunk like the elephant or be loud like the gorilla… By imitating and comparing herself to these other animals she learns to appreciate herself. Educational components are woven throughout this fun, read-aloud story and sidebar information complements and extends the learning, making it a perfect book for a wide variety of ages.


Weather changes daily. Sometimes it can even change from one moment to another—like a sudden storm. Weather affects our daily lives from what we wear to what outdoor activities (or lack thereof) we can do. Learning about weather and how to dress and prepare for it is an important skill to learn. Maybe even more important is the skill of observation. By asking simple questions, children become engaged and can start to observe and make correlations about the weather around them so they will understand how the weather impacts their lives.


You can learn more about each book and download the educational extras on the book homepages, and join us tomorrow for an interview with Terri Fields on writing And That’s the Tooth!

It’s a Birthday Party!

Today we release three new picture books to the world! Happy Book Birthday to authors Mary Holland Jennifer Keats Curtis and Timothy Bradley and illustrator Phyllis Saroff!

Now, let’s meet the books

Mary Holland has written several popular Arbordale titles, including her Animal Anatomy and Adaptations series. For Animal Tracks and Traces, she spent days capturing signs that animals were around. She also gives readers a glimpse at the animals that made the tracks, scat or marks.

About the book: Animals are all around us. While we may not often see them, we can see signs that they’ve been there. Some signs might be simple footprints in snow or mud (tracks) and other signs include chewed or scratched bark, homes or even poop and pee (traces). Children will become animal detectives after learning how to “read” the animal signs left all around. Smart detectives can even figure out what the animals were doing! This is a perfect sequel to Mary Holland’s Animal Anatomy and Adaptations series.

Visit the Animal Tracks and Traces page to learn more!

Jennifer Keats Curtis is also finding herself writing about familiar themes in Creek Critters. Fans of her books Baby Bear’s Adoption, Moonlight Crab Count, or Salamander Season will love this book too! For this book, she teamed up with the Stroud Water Research Center to show young readers how they can tell if their creek is healthy by finding some bugs.

About the Book: Do you like scavenger hunts? How do you tell if creek water is clean and healthy? Join Lucas and his sister as they act like scientists looking for certain kinds of stream bugs (aquatic macroinvertebrates) that need clean, unpolluted water to survive. What will they find as they turn over rocks, pick up leaves and sort through the mud? Read along to find out if their creek gets a passing grade.

Go to the Creek Critters page and learn more about bugs in the book!

Timothy Bradley has always loved writing about creatures of the past! I am Allosaurus starts a prehistoric series, and he kicks off the series with a favorite dino, the Allosaurus. This book will certainly be loved by beginning readers as they run, eat, and hide with the bright pink Allosaurus. While the text is simple, Bradley’s illustrations are bright, fun, and reflect new research in paleontology.

About the Book: What would it be like to live as a dinosaur? Young readers will discover that dinosaur lives had many similarities to present-day animals: they hatched, ran, hunted, hid from predators, and grew to adulthood. However, the world these creatures from the far past inhabited was very different from that of today; a great example is that a simple thing like grass didn’t yet exist. Repetitive sight words make this a great story for beginning readers and dinosaur enthusiasts alike.

Run to the I am Allosaurus book page to learn more about Timothy and his new series!

All these titles are available in hardcover, paperback, and Spanish paperback. Visit Arbordale’s website for more information!

Happy Belated Book Birthday

We’re a little late with our celebration this season, but as they say better late than never! Our new books hit shelves on March 12th. We are so excited that little readers are getting the opportunity to learn new facts or be entertained by a couple silly kitties. Congratulations to the authors and illustrators and welcome to the world…

Animal Noses

Noses come in all kinds of shapes and sizes that are just right for its particular animal host. Not only do most animals use their noses to breathe but for many animals, the sense of smell helps them find food, a mate, or even to know when danger is near! Following Animal TailsAnimal EyesAnimal Mouths (NSTA/CBC Outstanding Trade Science Award), and Animal Legs, Mary Holland continues her photographic Animal Anatomy and Adaptations series by exploring many different animal noses and how those noses help the animals survive in their habitats.

Mary Holland is a naturalist, nature photographer, columnist, and award-winning author with a life-long passion for natural history. After graduating from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources, Mary worked as a naturalist at the Museum of the Hudson Highlands in New York state, directed the state-wide Environmental Learning for the Future program for the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, worked as a resource naturalist for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and designed and presented her own “Knee-High Nature Programs” for libraries and elementary schools throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.

Her other children’s books with Arbordale include Otis the OwlFerdinand Fox’s First Summer (NSTA / CBC Most Outstanding Science Trade Book and Moonbeam Children’s Book Award), The Beavers’ Busy YearYodel the YearlingAnimal EarsAnimal TailsAnimal NosesAnimal EyesAnimal Legs, and Animal Mouths (NSTA / CBC Most Outstanding Science Trade Book). Mary’s book Naturally Curious: a Photographic Field Guide and Month-by-Month Journey Through the Fields, Woods and Marshes of New England won the 2011 National Outdoor Book Award for the Nature Guidebook category. Naturally Curious Day by Day was published in 2016. Mary lives in Vermont with her lab, Greta. Visit Mary’s blog at naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com.

If a Mummy Could Talk…

If a mummy could talk, what would it say? Of course, mummies can’t talk. But with modern scientific tools, we can still discover what a mummy has to tell us. Read the stories of mummified Egyptian pharaohs and priestesses, baby elephants, pampered pets, and even a prehistoric bison. Uncover clues to centuries-old murder mysteries and human sacrifices, and even find out what a person or animal had for their last meal! Information from real scientists explains how we know what we know about each mummy. So, what do these mummies have to say? Lots, it turns out!

Rhonda Lucas Donald has written more than a dozen books for children and teachers. She has written If a Mummy Could Talk…Deep in the Desert (Silver Moonbeam Children’s Book Award), Dino Tracks, and Dino Treasures for Arbordale. In addition, she has won awards for articles and stories appearing in Ranger Rick and Big Backyard magazines. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, National Science Teachers Association, and the Cat Writers Association. Rhonda and her husband share their Virginia home with their dog, Dixie, and their cats, Huxley and Darcy. Visit her website at www.browntabby.com

Cathy Morrison may have started her art career in animation, but she soon fell in love with illustrating children’s books and has been doing so for 20 years. She’s illustrated If a Mummy Could Talk…Dino TracksDino TreasuresNature Recycles— How About You?DaisylocksThis Land is Your LandTortoise and Hare’s Amazing RaceThree Little Beavers, and Animalogy: Animal Analogies for Arbordale. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Cathy works from home in a studio loft overlooking a beautiful view of the Mummy Range, on the northern side of Rocky Mountain National Park. Check out her blog at www.cathymorrison.blogspot.com.

The Long and Short Tail of Colo and Ruff

Colo the cougar and her friend Ruff, the bobcat, jump and play together, but Ruff can’t jump as far as Colo. Ruff doesn’t have a long, swishy tail like Colo does, to provide balance on long leaps. Ruff’s tail is much shorter. He is sure that something is wrong with him. Sympathetic, Colo suggests they find a tail that Ruff would like better, so off they go. As the two kittens explore the variety of tails worn by other animals, they make the best discovery of all.

Diane Lang volunteers at two different nature centers where she gives programs and classes to share nature with young children-and that love of sharing nature led her to her writing picture books. In addition to authoring The Long and Short Tail of Colo and Ruff for Arbordale, Diane’s other books include DaytimeNighttimeAll Through the YearVulture Verses, Love Poems for the Unloved and Fur, Feather, Fin: All of Us Are Kin. Diane lives in California with her husband and several beloved pets-a gentle snake, two dogs, two tortoises, and two sweet tarantulas. Visit her website at www.dianelang.net.

Award-winning illustrator Laurie Allen Klein has been a freelance artist for nearly 25 years. Over the last several years, she has worked as the on-staff artist for a marine park, where she does everything from painting life-size sea animal murals to illustrating children’s activity books. Laurie has also illustrated Dear Komodo DragonSaving Kate’s FlowersBalloon TreesFur and FeathersThe Ghost of Donley FarmIf a Dolphin Were a FishLittle Skink’s TailMeet the PlanetsSolar System ForecastThey Just Know and Where Should Turtle Be? for Arbordale. Laurie lives in Florida. See more of her artwork at www.lauriekleinarts.com.

River Rescue

When oil spills, workers hurry to clean the land and water. But oil spills can also affect every animal that lives in the area. Who helps these wild animals? On the East Coast, a team from Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research rushes to the scene to save as many as possible. Follow along to learn how these experts capture oiled animals and treat them quickly and safely so that they may be returned to the wild. This illustrated nonfiction is based on the extensive experience of the Oiled Wildlife Response Team at Tri-State.

Award-winning author Jennifer Keats Curtis has penned numerous stories about animals, including Kali’s Story: An Orphaned Polar Bear Rescue(Children’s Choice Book Award Winner); After A While Crocodile: Alexa’s Diary (NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children) with co-author Dr. Brady Barr of Nat Geo Wild’s Dangerous Encounter; Baby Bear’s Adoption with wildlife biologists at Michigan’s DNR; and Moonlight Crab Count with co-author Dr. Neeti Bathala. The long-time writer’s other recent books include The Lizard Lady, with co-author Dr. Nicole Angeli, Maggie: Alaska’s Last Elephant and the Animal Helpers Series. When not writing, Jennifer can be found among students and teachers, talking about literacy and conservation. Visit her website at www.jenniferkeatscurtis.com.

Tammy Yee grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she explored tide pools, swam in streams and wrote and illustrated spooky stories. After college, she worked as a pediatric registered nurse. Having children rekindled her love for picture books; so, in 1994 she exchanged her stethoscope for a paintbrush and has been illustrating picture books ever since. Tammy has worked on more than thirty books including River Rescue and A True Princess of Hawai‘i for Arbordale, The Tsunami Quilt: Grandfather’s StoryLullaby Moon, and Baby Honu’s Incredible Journey. Tammy lives in Oahu with her family, two rabbits, a chinchilla, a cockatiel, a cat and a burping bulldog named Roxy. In her spare time, she raises monarch butterflies and creates origami projects. Visit her website at http://www.tammyyee.com.

Learn more about each of these titles on www.arbordalepublishing.com!