Above, Below and Long Ago: Animals, Plants and Fossils in Hidden Places

by Michael Bright, Jonathan Emmerson (Illustrator)

Overview

Let’s get closer to wildlife that is hard to see.

There are animals and plants in the skies, deep underwater, on clifftops, in caves, underground and from long, long ago that remain hidden from the world. In Above, Below and Long Ago, catch a rare glimpse of a snow leopard stalking its prey high in the mountains and a ghostly pale, eel-shaped olm that can live in underground caves for 10 years without eating. Dive deep into the earth to find out how a mysterious orchid only blooms underground or go back in time to meet the megalodon, one of the largest predators to ever live on Earth. Young readers will explore how these elusive plants and animals adapt to their sometimes extreme environments and how some left their mark in the fossil record.

Illustrated with linocut prints, this book highlights the textures and patterns of the natural world, up high, down low and long ago.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459842151
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	03/11/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	136 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Michael Bright has worked as an executive producer with the BBC's world-renowned Natural History Unit, based in Bristol, and with its Science Unit in London. He is author of over a hundred books on wildlife, science, travel and conservation, including many for children. His bestseller Africa: Eye to Eye with the Unknown was written to accompany the popular television series presented by Sir David Attenborough. He is the recipient of many international radio and television awards, including the prestigious Prix Italia. He is a graduate of the University of London and a corporate biologist and member of the Royal Society of Biology.

Jonathan Emmerson is an illustrator and printmaker. Growing up on Salisbury Plain near Stonehenge led to a lifelong fascination with nature, fossils and all things prehistoric. He studied fine art at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design and lives in St. Albans, making linocut prints inspired by the natural world.

Michael Bright has worked as an executive producer with the BBC's world-renowned Natural History Unit, based in Bristol, and with its Science Unit in London. He is author of over a hundred books on wildlife, science, travel and conservation, including many for children. His bestseller Africa: Eye to Eye with the Unknown was written to accompany the popular television series presented by Sir David Attenborough. He is the recipient of many international radio and television awards, including the prestigious Prix Italia. He is a graduate of the University of London and a corporate biologist and member of the Royal Society of Biology.

Jonathan Emmerson is an illustrator and printmaker. Growing up on Salisbury Plain near Stonehenge led him to a lifelong fascination with nature, fossils and all things prehistoric. He studied fine art at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design and lives in St. Albans, making linocut prints inspired by the natural world.

Editorial Reviews

The selective nature of the topics and the appealing illustrations make this book unique, and one that will attract curious young readers who find science fascinating. Above, Below and Long Ago: Animals, Plants and Fossils in Hidden Places is a good starting point for them to further investigate concepts such as adaptation, migration, evolution and extinction. Highly Recommended.”

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

Introducing many unusual creatures, this book is an inviting choice for kids who enjoy BBC’s esteemed documentaries on wildlife.”

Booklist

2024-12-14
A select gallery of elusive flora and fauna, from living and extinct fossils to an orchid that only blooms underground.

Bright doesn’t stick too closely to his “hidden places” premise, instead including several easy-to-find creatures, such as horseshoe crabs and barn swallows. But nature lovers won’t mind, since his 24 profiles are long on mysteries and surprising facts—and are accompanied by Emmerson’s vivid, multihued linocut portraits. In sections titled “Above,” “Below,” and “Long Ago,” the author offers introductions to creatures as ubiquitous as brown rats and as rare as the yellow-rumped leaf-eared mouse, which lives on the slopes of one volcano in the Andes and at a higher altitude than any other mammal in the world. Though the entries are brief, readers will come away with clear pictures of why each of Bright’s chosen subjects is unique and also about what remains to be discovered about many, such as how seeds produced by the western underground orchid are distributed or just what that Andean mouse can find to eat at such heights. Emmerson portrays the plants and animals in lively, naturalistic poses against detailed or textured backgrounds ranging from deep seas and black caves to bright, steep mountain crags and crowded cityscapes.

Stimulating ventures into some of the world’s less accessible locales. (map, glossary, illustrator’s note, index)(Nonfiction. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews