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Towering oak and hickory woodlands once fringed the tallgrass prairie of the Midwest. In a wondrous mixture of plant and animal life, big mammals like black bears and cougars thrived alongside gray foxes and ovenbirds. But as more people arrived, the woodlands, like the tallgrass prairie, were cleared with amazing speed. Now only small portions of this special habitat remain, and many of its animals and plants are endangered or extinct. Despite the great loss, many people are working to restore and enlarge what remains so that woodlands can continue to support a rich wildlife community. And so we can all enjoy a walk in the woods. A Woodland Counting Book helps children learn about the woodland family. From one splendid white oak to fifty busy carpenter ants, illustrator Claudia McGehee counts the wonders of the woodlands in this beautifully illustrated companion to her previous children’s book, A Tallgrass Prairie Alphabet. As she follows spring to summer to fall to winter, returning at the book’s end to springtime in “one woodland community,” McGehee introduces more than twenty species of plants and animals. From the white oaks that tower overhead to shelter the woodland citizens to the delicate showy lady’s-slipper orchid and from the barred owls with distinctive hoots and calls to tiny evening bats which roost in hollow trees, we meet a wild world of woodland life. We find luna moths and serviceberries, shagbark hickories, blue spotted salamanders, wild turkeys, red squirrels, orchard orioles, and a host of other familiar and not-so-familiar plants and animals. A section of woodland notes gives common and scientific names of and interesting information about all featured species. These vibrantly colored scratchboard illustrations reveal the beauty of our woodland communities, guiding nature lovers and children of all ages through a much-loved landscape.

A fascinating book on the origins of writing.

Before Writing gives a new perspective on the evolution of communication. It points out that when writing began in Mesopotamia it was not, as previously thought, a sudden and spontaneous invention. Instead, it was the outgrowth of many thousands of years' worth of experience at manipulating symbols.

In Volume I: From Counting to Cuneiform, Denise Schmandt-Besserat describes how in about 8000 B.C., coinciding with the rise of agriculture, a system of counters, or tokens, appeared in the Near East. These tokens—small, geometrically shaped objects made of clay—represented various units of goods and were used to count and account for them. The token system was a breakthrough in data processing and communication that ultimately led to the invention of writing about 3100 B.C. Through a study of archaeological and epigraphic evidence, Schmandt-Besserat traces how the Sumerian cuneiform script, the first writing system, emerged from a counting device.

In Volume II: A Catalog of Near Eastern Tokens, Schmandt-Besserat presents the primary data on which she bases her theories. These data consist of several thousand tokens, catalogued by country, archaeological site, and token types and subtypes. The information also includes the chronology, stratigraphy, museum ownership, accession or field number, references to previous publications, material, and size of the artifacts. Line drawings and photographs illustrate the various token types.

Isle Royale in Michigan is one of the most remote and pristine of all the U.S. national parks, and it is the site of the world’s longest-running predator–prey study. Every summer, Jeffrey M. Holden leads groups of citizen scientists on week-long expeditions to search for dead moose. Those intrepid enough to join him backpacking off trail in Isle Royale’s rugged beauty face challenges from treacherous weather conditions, to wildlife, primitive backcountry camping, traveling through swamps and wetlands, and backpacks that grow heavier with bones every time a new dead moose is found. Sometimes the moose they find are long dead, with only a scattering of bones remaining. Sometimes they are freshly departed, rotted, stinking, and covered with thousands of bloodthirsty ticks. Scientists use the bones, photos, and data they collect to reconstruct the moose population through the years, correlating it against other data on wolves, weather, and ticks. This book provides a fascinating look into the day-to-day realities of backpacking in the wilderness, while featuring the extraordinary scientific discoveries of the Wolf-Moose Project itself and highlighting the role and rewards for volunteers in this extraordinary endeavor. This is a must read for anyone who is interested in off-trail hiking, becoming a citizen scientist, or exploring America’s least-visited national park.

The counting of the Omer begins with the escape from enslavement to the wandering path of freedom, leading to a mystical encounter with God, Sinai, and Torah. This volume, beginning with its informative contextual introduction, provides a spiritual guide for a personal journey through the Omer toward meaningful and purposeful living. Beautiful and evocative readings for each day matched with the daily Omer blessing, offer a transformative path from Passover to Shavuot.

Dramatic accounts of every University of Alabama National Championship football season recounted by noted sports writers, players, and Alabamians.

Dating back to 1925, when Wallace Wade coached the Crimson Tide to an undefeated season and earned a spot in the Rose Bowl, the driving goal of every University of Alabama football season has been a national championship. A winning team surfaced that very next year, when Hoyt “Wu” Winslett’s squad sealed the national championship at the Rose Bowl for a second time. Winning seasons and bowl games culminating in the coveted crown followed again in 1930, 1934, 1941, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015—more championships than any other college team in the nation.

Sixteen and Counting features a chapter highlighting each of these championship seasons and collects the legendary stories of many of the outstanding coaches and players on the University of Alabama’s championship teams. College football legends such as Wallace Wade, Wu Winslett, Johnny Mack Brown, Pooley Herbert, Frank Thomas, Dixie Howell, Don Hutson, Jimmy Nelson, Holt Rast, Pat Trammel, Sam Bailey, Lee Roy Jordan, Harry Gilmer, Bill Lee, Ken Stabler, Joe Namath, Gary Rutledge, Randy Billingsley, Barry Krauss, Clem Gryska, Gene Stallings, Paul “Bear” Bryant, and, of course, Nick Saban all make prominent appearances.

A seventeenth chapter is included that looks at the uncrowned teams commonly referred to as “the other five,” who were considered national champions by at least one national ranking service at the end of the season. Every glorious milestone and high point in Alabama football history is included here: “Mama called,” the wishbone formation, “The Goal Line Stand,” the Million Dollar Band, the coaching tower, the Davis kicking dynasty, the Notre Dame box, Coach of the Year, Team of the Decade, and two Heisman trophy winners.