Monarchs I Have Met


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Monarchs and Milkweed


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The fascinating and complex evolutionary relationship of the monarch butterfly and the milkweed plant Monarch butterflies are one of nature's most recognizable creatures, known for their bright colors and epic annual migration from the United States and Canada to Mexico. Yet there is much more to the monarch than its distinctive presence and mythic journeying. In Monarchs and Milkweed, Anurag Agrawal presents a vivid investigation into how the monarch butterfly has evolved closely alongside the milkweed—a toxic plant named for the sticky white substance emitted when its leaves are damaged—and how this inextricable and intimate relationship has been like an arms race over the millennia, a battle of exploitation and defense between two fascinating species. The monarch life cycle begins each spring when it deposits eggs on milkweed leaves. But this dependency of monarchs on milkweeds as food is not reciprocated, and milkweeds do all they can to poison or thwart the young monarchs. Agrawal delves into major scientific discoveries, including his own pioneering research, and traces how plant poisons have not only shaped monarch-milkweed interactions but have also been culturally important for centuries. Agrawal presents current ideas regarding the recent decline in monarch populations, including habitat destruction, increased winter storms, and lack of milkweed—the last one a theory that the author rejects. He evaluates the current sustainability of monarchs and reveals a novel explanation for their plummeting numbers. Lavishly illustrated with more than eighty color photos and images, Monarchs and Milkweed takes readers on an unforgettable exploration of one of nature's most important and sophisticated evolutionary relationships.




The Monarch Butterfly


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A King's Book of Kings


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Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story


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Caterpillar crawls from leaf to leaf, eating and waiting, all alone in a big, green world. Then Orange appears—Orange floats, and flits, and flies, graceful and beautiful. In this sweet, moving story of intergenerational friendship, a small caterpillar is befriended by a glorious monarch butterfly, and together they learn to see the world through each other’s eyes.




Bicycling with Butterflies


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“What a wonderful idea for an adventure! Absolutely inspired, timely, and important.” —Alistair Humphreys, National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and author of The Doorstep Mile and Around the World by Bike Outdoor educator and field researcher Sara Dykman made history when she became the first person to bicycle along­side monarch butterflies on their storied annual migration—a round-trip adventure that included three countries and more than 10,000 miles. Equally remarkable, she did it solo, on a bike cobbled together from used parts. Her panniers were recycled buckets. In Bicycling with Butterflies, Dykman recounts her incredible journey and the dramatic ups and downs of the nearly nine-month odyssey. We’re beside her as she nav­igates unmapped roads in foreign countries, checks roadside milkweed for monarch eggs, and shares her passion with eager schoolchil­dren, skeptical bar patrons, and unimpressed border officials. We also meet some of the ardent monarch stewards who supported her efforts, from citizen scientists and research­ers to farmers and high-rise city dwellers. With both humor and humility, Dykman offers a compelling story, confirming the urgency of saving the threatened monarch migration—and the other threatened systems of nature that affect the survival of us all.







Flight Behavior


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Set in the present day in the rural community of Feathertown, Tennessee, Flight Behavior tells the story of Dellarobia Turnbow, a petite, razor-sharp 29-year-old who nurtured worldly ambitions before becoming pregnant and marrying at seventeen. Now, after more than a decade of tending to small children on a failing farm, oppressed by poverty, isolation and her husband's antagonistic family, she has mitigated her boredom by surrendering to an obsessive flirtation with a handsome younger man. In the opening scene, Dellarobia is headed for a secluded mountain cabin to meet this man and initiate what she expects will be a self-destructive affair. But the tryst never happens. Instead, she walks into something on the mountainside she cannot explain or understand: a forested valley filled with silent red fire that appears to her a miracle. After years lived entirely in the confines of one small house, Dellarobia finds her path suddenly opening out, chapter by chapter, into blunt and confrontational engagement with her family, her church, her town, her continent, and finally the world at large.




Monarchs


Book Description

Describes the life cycle and winter migrations of the eastern and western monarch butterflies and the two towns that protect their winter habitats. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.




The Prophecies of a Father


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The Prophecies of A Father is a remarkable piece of literary work. The writer, His Excellency Ambassador Eddie M. Turay is very sincere and passionate in the presentation of his facts. The facts relate to the culture, traditions, customs and party politics of his country. The writers sincerity and passion revolves around the traditional beliefs and faith of his benevolent father in his ancestral spirits, late Paramount Chief Kande Turay of Sanda Chiefdom. He reveals that the late man was an animist who despite neither believed nor practiced Christianity and Islam, yet he gave him the freedom and support to become a practicing Christian. His father was not only liberal towards the two mainstream religions (Christianity and Islam) but he was a great admirer of the Whitemans education. That was why he gave him his blessings and support to pursue education for which he will ever remain grateful. Paramount Chieftaincy is one of the oldest and respectable political institutions in this part of the African Continent. The writer has thrown enlightening lights on the way it works in the Sanda Chiefdom, Northern Sierra Leone. One more amazing revelation of the book is the prophecies of the writers father. As the title of the book, it is befitting because all that his father prophesied have come to pass. His father did prophesise that the writer will dine and drink with Royalties, Prime Ministers and Presidents at home and abroad, which has come to pass. In terms of his countrys national politics, he paints the picture of the political culture that existed at the time. It bordered on dysfunctional tendencies, which was disturbing to him as an espouser of democracy and social justice. Thus, educated and trained in the ethics of social justice and fairness, the Ambassador was determined to challenge these vices. Ironically, it was his zealousness to challenge them that made him steal the heart of late President Siaka P. Stevens. The President was impressed, so he convinced him to drop his legal practice and become a politician where he would have the opportunity to fully inculcate and defend the values of fair play and social justice as espoused by democratic ethos, particularly at the grassroots levels of the nations politics. The writer skilfully draws the contrasts between the Old and New APC, and above all, the successful leadership of President Ernest Bai Koroma (Leader of the APC). He registers his unwavering support for the New APC Party of which he is a profound member and her admirable leadership. This book is an eye-catching read as well as educative for its sincerity, passion, fun, simple and quality language and buttressed by ideal concepts. HE Ambassador Eddie M. Turays colleagues in the Diplomatic Service, Foreign Office as well as politicians and educational institutions at home and abroad will find this book a handy resource material on Sierra Leone politics.