Cirrus@Austlit

'The year is 1901 and as men begin their journey to the South Pole, a company of rats on board their ship are about to do the same. This extraordinary children's story tells of the first expedition to the Antarctic from a rat's point of view.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Antarctica is a desert, vast and frozen. Yet there is life in Antarctica. Abundant, wonderful life. The land does not feed the millions of animals that manage to survive in this harsh and beautiful place. The ocean fuels Antarctica's life.

Written and researched in Antarctica with stunning sketches and watercolours completed on site, Antarctic Journal creates a vibrant sense of the crowded Antarctic summer. Experience Antarctic expeditioners Meredith Hooper and Lucia deLeiris travelled for three and a half months, selected by the US Antarctic Artists & Writers Program. 

This unique journal includes information on the Antarctic eco-system, climate change, the food web, maps and an index. (Source: Publication Summary)

A Song for Planet Earth takes us on a lyrical journey around the world and celebrates the beauty and glory of life on our planet. From under the polar ice to the hottest desert, from rainforests to city streets, animals and plants occupy every layer and niche of our planet.

In Antarctica, penguins glide through water and a seal breaks through the ice for air. In a South American rainforest twisting vines struggle upwards seeking sunlight. A volcano erupts in the West Indies bringing death and destruction. A tiger in the Indian jungle fiercely protects her young, while domestic cats prowl and hunt in an urban territory.

We are also taken deep below the sea to the rainbow-coloured coral reef of Australia, across to a carefully tended Japanese paddy field, and on to an African plain where clues to our past are uncovered.

Growth, decay, camouflage, and survival are all part of the infinite cycle of movement on Earth.

Stunningly illustrated by Rupert van Wyk, this is a vibrant visualisation of the wonderful wealth of living things that make up our planet Earth. (Source: back cover)

Water tumbles inside clouds, drifts as snowflakes, collects in puddles. Water creeps up the stems of sunflowers and slips down the throats of tigers.

Where does this marvellous liquid come from? How does it behave? Why is it so important? Well-known science writer Meredith Hooper tells the amazing story of water on our Earth. Beginning before the Earth was formed and continuing to the present day, the dramatic narrative explains the nature of water and the water cycle, and the collection between water and the development of life on our planet. (Source: Back cover)