A Moonbeam Children’s Books Gold Award Winner, Sarah B. Pomeroy and Jeyaraney Kathirithamby’s picture book Maria Sibylla Merian is the first biography of the celebrated artist, scientist, and adventurer written for ages 10 and up to enchant budding scientists and artists alike.

In 1660, at the age of 13, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717) began her study of butterfly metamorphosis—years before any other scientist published an accurate description of the process. Later, Merian and her daughter ventured thousands of miles from their home in the Netherlands to the rainforests of South America seeking new and amazing insects to observe and illustrate.

Years after her death, Merian’s accurate and beautiful illustrations were used by scientists, including Carl Linnaeus, to classify species, and today her prints and paintings are prized by museums around the world. More than a dozen species of plants and animals are named after Merian.

With its lively text, quotations from Merian’s own study book, and fascinating sidebars on history, art, and science, this volume is an ideal STEAM title for readers of all ages and interests—who will be inspired by Merian’s talent, curiosity, and grit and will be swept up in the story of her life, which was adventurous even by today’s standards.

Here, between the covers of one capacious book, is an illustrated summary of all the creatures that have ever lived, a vast compendium of earth's current and former inhabitants in all their dazzling and infinite diversity.
Colin Tudge argues that we are entering a new phase of biology in which, for the first time, biologists are achieving profound insight into life's true diversity and developing the tools to keep track of it.
heralds this new phase. The first part of the book describes why biologists now feel that there could have been as many as 4,000 billion species on Earth since life began. It then discusses the need for classification, beginning with the most basic principles--the strictly practical classification of fishmongers and foresters, who speak of "shellfish" and differentiate "hardwood" from "softwood"--and moves on to explore the intriguing deliberations of the modern "transformed cladists" and the novel contributions of molecular genetics. Part II describes the creatures themselves. It is divided into 24 sections, each describing a different group, illustrated by nearly 50 double-page spreads which present genealogical "trees" that summarize the evolutionary relationships between the creatures in each group. Some sections describe large, comprehensive groups such as the kingdoms of the Animals or the Plants. Others treat similar sub-groups in more detail, such as the Mammals, a class, or the Hominids, a family. In lively and accessible prose, all the significant groups of creatures--both alive and extinct--are described and their relationships clarified.
For general readers and serious biologists alike,
offers an unprecedented storehouse of knowledge of life on earth.