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Wild About: Animals for Earth Day + Elisha Cooper book giveaway


Every year, Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd. The first Earth Day was held in 1970. When I've participated in Earth Days past, I usually participated in tree planting or gardening events. There are a terrific number of tree-oriented events on Earth Day. Furthermore, events seem to emphasize the conservation and restoration of Earth for human benefit. However, as Joel Satore, founder of National Geographic's Photo Ark project to document every animal species in captivity, reminds us, "It’s their #EarthDay, too." And it's not only terrestrial animals that are important to celebrate. The National Aquarium in Baltimore will launch its 48 Days of Blue campaign again this year on Earth Day. The campaign will run for 48 days until World Oceans Day on June 8th. John Racanelli, CEO of the aquarium, notes, "It’s been said that the best way to imagine Earth without its ocean is to look at Mars. No ocean, no us." With these messages in mind, I am happy to host another book giveaway!


Last month I read a favorable review of 8: An Animal Alphabet, a new book by Elisha Cooper's. (I don't think any of Mr. Cooper's books have received poor reviews.) I borrowed the book from my public library and we enjoyed it very much. The illustrations of animals from aardvark to zebu are classic Cooper. The book is engaging. Eight animals are named on each page. And one of these animals is drawn in eight different ways. It's fun to spot that animal. You can probably guess that eight is Mr. Cooper's favorite number. Finally, the book concludes with "Did You Know?" facts about each animal.

*** The Giveaway ***


Scholastic Inc., the publisher of 8: An Animal Alphabet and other Elisha Cooper books, has provided the books for this giveaway. Two winners will be selected. Each winner will receive a signed copy of 8: An Animal Alphabet and a copy of either Where's Walrus and Penguin by Stephen Savage or Elephant in the Dark by Mina Javaherbin with illustrations by Eugene Yeltsin.



Enter by telling us about a wild animal encounter in one of two ways: 

1. In the comments section. Please include an email address or social media handle, for contact purposes only.

2. Or via social media. Make sure to tag @localecologist.

The deadline to enter is Monday, April 25, 2016 at 11:59 pm ET and two winners will be chosen randomly.* Fingers crossed!

This giveaway is now closed and the winners have been notified.

*The giveaway is open to US residents only. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. The approximate total value of each prize pack is $35. Books provided by Scholastic, Inc.

Comments

Eve said…
What a great giveaway! A wild animal encounter... While on a trip in South America, my family and I swam in the Amazon river. I was terrified when the guide told us we were swimming with piranhas! Luckily we only saw Dolphins!
liqidimond said…
My son's friend's mom from preschool was bitten by a rabid squirrel. So while taking a walk in our neighborhood to the playground with my, then 2 year old and preschool bro, a squirrel tromps across our path (like they always do) but instead of being acting normal my preschool violently shoves his little brother off the sidewalk in a panic 😭!! His brother gets injured not bc of the squirrel but bc of his overprotective sibling!! Haha, I laugh about this everytime I think about this story. My social handle is: @succulentsinnova and my private personal account is @liqidimond
Care said…
My husband and I went to Cumberland Island in Georgia for our honeymoon. Due to the bugs, heat and my anxiety, it wasn't the most relaxing trip! On our second to last day of the trip, I was finally able to have a small #2. I snuck off into the woods behind the old mansion and dropped my pants. In that exact moment, I saw a wild boar with three little babies. It was the most memorable bm of my entire life.
Georgia | Local Ecologist said…
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Tea Happiness said…
I remember seeing a moose in the wild for the first time. I was excited but he was so enormous I was also terrified! Not as cute as I imagined a moose would be :)
Anonymous said…
My daughter, husband and I were entering a park near Woodstock, New York in a car. We had heard there might be black bears in the area. As we drove up, we saw them: a mother and two cubs! We grabbed a camera to take a picture. But we were too slow: we were able to capture the back legs of one of them, disappearing into the trees.
One time when I was traveling in Costa Rica a few years ago I was driving on the road to Arenal when I saw a couple of cars stopped in both directions in front of me. I slowed down and saw that there were dozens of coatis (raccoon family tropical animals) swarming around the cars and standing on their hind legs while tourists in SUVs threw them chips and other snacks to eat. After a while they stopped getting food and retreated to the side of the road to let the cars pass. Then when a new car came along one coati with a limp would go out into the road until the car slowed down then the whole group would swarm out around the car begging for food. I'm not sure if this qualifies as wild animal behavior as it seems more like organized highway robbery, but I'm pretty sure they figured out the racket on their own without anyone intentionally training them!