Catching up! New non fiction titles to look for!

 GAH!  I can't believe it's been almost four months since I last posted.  I'd like to tell you that I was busy doing something really amazing but it's really just living life!  Anyway, let me tell you about some of the amazing nonfiction I did manage to read.

The first one is called Honey Bee Rescue by Loree Griffin Burns.  I'm a big fan of Burns other works like Tracking Trash or Hive Detectives.  She writes nonfiction books about things lots of people are interested in and tells them with lots of photographs and details that really brings her research into clear focus.  This one is no different. It's about two men, one a bee keeper and one a bee relocater.  Mr. Connery finds that some of his bees have set up housekeeping in his garage, which is not a safe place for the bees.  So he calls Mr. Nelson to come and relocate the bees.  Griffin and photographer Ellen Marasimowicz carefully document how Mr. Nelson gets the bees out of the garage (with a custom made vacuum cleaner!) and helps them settle into their new hive.  The full color photos make you feel like you're right there (without the buzzing...) and give you images of the bees and their hive that you might not have the courage to actually get on your own!  I found this story fascinating.  We had a swarm of bees on our patio several years ago and although they were only there a few weeks, it was fun to watch them (once I knew I didn't really need to be afraid of them).  I hope this book will show others that bees are interesting creatures rather than terrifying beasts.  Another excellent story by by Loree Griffin Burns. 

The second one is also a non fiction story about animals.  It's called Fourteen Wolves: A Rewilding Story by Catherine Barr and Jenni Desmond.  It's a detailed look into the re-introduction of wolves into the Yellowstone Park and habitats.  Barr and Desmond build the background of the story by explaining why wolves disappeared to being with, what happened while they were gone, how the wolves were re-introduced and what happened when they came back.  There's also detailed information about some of the other living things that exist in Yellowstone as well as what happened to each of the wolves that was relocated into Yellowstone.  It's similar to a book that Jean Craighead George wrote several years ago about the impact of wolves on the Yellowstone ecosystems but in even more detail.  Jenni Desmond's artwork adds striking visual details to the very interesting text.  I think the kids are going to like this one a lot.  

Here's a video from National Geographic about the wolves of Yellowstone.

And here's the cover, to give you an idea of Desmond's amazing art work.