New Releases by Eric Ethan

An introduction to the diamond, including mining processes, locations, qualities, and uses.

There are blue sapphires, clear sapphires, “fancy sapphires,” and star sapphires. All of these valuable gems are featured in this book, with colorful photographs to show readers their beauty. Where do most sapphires come from? How much was the most expensive sapphire worth? These questions and many more are answered in the pages of this book.

Learn facts about one of the only gems to be mined in North America.

Emeralds are the most expensive gems in the world, but it takes a lot of time and effort for them to get that way. Readers will discover many interesting facts about this beautiful May birthstone that takes millions of years to form. Vibrant photographs capture emeralds at all stages, from the mines to beautiful pieces of jewelry.

They’re the red birthstone for the month of July, they’re used in lasers and were even used in ancient battles—they’re rubies! It takes a lot of hard work to mine for rubies and even more hard work to turn them into sparkling gems. Readers will learn about the many steps it takes to find, cut, and polish these gems. Vivid photographs show the work that goes into finding rubies and the glittering results of that work.

Presents such information about opals as their natural qualities, how they are obtained, and how the raw stones are cut and polished into gems.

An introduction to the physical characteristics, behavior, and life cycle of black widow spiders.

An introduction to the physical characteristics, behavior, and life cycle of yellow sac spiders, the most common house spiders in parts of New England and Canada.

An introduction to the physical characteristics, behavior, and life cycle of tarantulas.

An introduction to the physical characteristics, behavior, and life cycle of funnel web spiders.

An introduction to the physical characteristics, behavior, and habitat of brown recluse spiders.

An introduction to the physical characteristics, behavior, and life cycle of hobo spiders, also known as aggressive house spiders.

An introduction to the physical characteristics, behavior, and habitat of brown recluse spiders.

Describes one of the newest NASCAR races, the Brickyard 400, held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Describes the action at the Winston 500, held at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

Discusses the background, events, and rules of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious of the NASCAR Winston Cup racing series.

Describes the Miller 400, the first race sanctioned by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) in 1969 and held annually at the Michigan Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Presents information about the various sea creatures that feed on coral polyps and algae of the coral reef, including fish, snails, slugs, and starfish.

Describes what cottonmouths, or water moccasins, look like, what they eat, where they can be found, how they defend themselves, the danger from their bites, and the outlook for their future.