New Releases by Nic Bishop

What do a scorpion, a barnacle, and an ant have in common? They all have jointed legs and an exoskeleton, and they belong to the arthropods. Arthropods are found just about everywhere - there are even some living on you.

The extinction of dinosaurs some sixty-five million years ago is one of the greatest biological catastrophes in the history of our planet. Yet in recent years, paleontologists have turned up increasing evidence that ancestors of one group of dinosaurs still fly among us: birds. Join Cathy Forster, one of the few female paleontologists working today, on an expedition to Madagascar in search of clues to the mystery of bird evolution.

A learn-to-read story about how animals move.

Rain forests are homes to an amazing variety of life and are a valuable source of medicine, food, and scientific knowledge.

Describes a field study in the Arizona desert to hunt horned lizards and find out more about how they live and survive in the desert environment. Suggested level: primary.

Naturalist and photographer Nic Bishop explores the multilayered rain forest. He explains why this fragile environment is home to such a variety of life. This text is part of a guided reading series of 96 chapter books for children aged seven to 11.

Nic Bishop explains how he overcame some of the technical difficulties involved in photographing things which happen too quickly to see with our own eyes, such as how a ladybird jumps off a leaf. Suggested level: primary.

Photographer Nic Bishop and his wife go on a canoe trip and see many animals that live by or in the river, including a terrapin, moose, toad, loon, salamander and lots of frogs. Suggested level: primary.

Young readers are inspired by these emergent level nonfiction books about the natural world and everyday life. Supported by stunning photography and a variety of illustrative styles, TWiG Books offer developmentally appropriate text exploring a wide range of topics from creatures and community to history and helpers. TWiG Books are easily integrated across the curriculum—especially in math, science, and social studies—with four curriculum packs and teacher guides.

In text and photographs, presents birds, insects, bats, and other flying animals.

Deep in a swamp three unsuspecting bugs get caught by three hungry plants.

As the title suggests, they cover 60 relatively easy walks in the North Island with the emphasis on visiting places with natural history values or, in some cases, with interesting historical stories to tell. Each walk is illustrated with a simple but clear map, along with an introductory section providing directions to the beginning of the walk, estimated walking times and points of interest along the way. Mark Pickering writes in a very interesting and accessible way and he provides many side bars discussing a particular species, features of the landscape or stories associated with the particular place - some of them delightfully quirky. (A random sample: ''Kea: A loveable, laughing, crying, clownish, cruel and unforgettable bird, the mountain parrot - sheep killer and tourist tormenter - puts on a show while its mates nip behind and rip bits off windscreen-wipers and anything else their inquisitive beaks can get around.'') The books are particularly popular with tourists, many of whom probably never take any of the walks but who are attracted by the books'' compact size and great colour photographs (many of them by Nic Bishop, a prize-winning nature photographer), which together make them a wonderful souvenir of the ''real'' New Zealand.

A photographic study of New Zealand''s waterways and the creatures and plants that rely on them is accompanied with a descriptive text. Some of the plants and animals are not rare, but their conservation is shown to be important. The book covers estuaries, wetlands and local rivers.