Picture Books

S is for Smithsonian

American’s Museum Alphabet, illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen. It’s a beautiful book that took a tremendous amount research and a long time to write. The book comes out on April 1st but you can order it HERE at a good price.

 

Z is for Zookeeper

Since monkeys and elephants and crocodiles don't make good tour guides who better to walk us through the inner workings of a zoo than the zookeeper? Roland Smith, award winning writer and 20-year zookeeper, introduces young readers to little known facts - sometimes in the middle of the night zookeepers do go back to check the locks, giraffes don't know how to duck making it difficult to drive under a bridge when the zookeepers transport them from one location to another, and exactly how much time do zookeepers spend with the pooper-scooper? "Z is for Zookeeper" gives children a front row seat at the zoo - one of the ultimate childhood places.

"Z is for Zookeeper" will keep kids turning the pages as often as they request, "Can we go to the zoo?". Order now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells.

B is for Beaver

Join authors Roland and Marie Smith and illustrator Michael Roydon as they take you on a journey across the Oregon Trail and through the picturesque Beaver state. In B is for Beaver, the Smith's rhyming verse and sidebar expository text illuminate the wonders of Hell's Canyon, the lush lands of the Willamette Valley, and the surging seas of the neighboring Pacific Ocean. An effective educational tool inside the classroom and out, readers of all ages in the state of Oregon and beyond can embark on this journey any time they wish. Order now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells.

E is for Evergreen

Readers young and old will be delighted to discover the wonders of Washington State, from its natural beauty (Mount Rainier and evergreen forests), to its famous residents (Jimi Hendrix and Big Foot) and familiar skyline (Seattle's Space Needle). Intriguing facts coupled with beautiful, original artwork make "E is for Evergreen" an exciting journey.

Order now at Amazon, Barnes & Nobel or Powells.

W is for Waves

An ocean alphabet.

Order Roland and Marie's Waves book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells.

 

N is for our Nation's Capital

Museums and monuments define the Washington DC landscape, but the stories behind the majestic capital merely begin here. Looking beyond the monuments, from Abigail Adams to the National Zoo, to all the cherry blossoms, flags, houses, and presidents in between, "N is for Our Nation's Capital" is like a guided tour along the most interesting routes in our capital. Did you know the cherry trees that are an integral part of DC's scenery were gifts from Japan? Or that Mrs. Taft planted the first two?

Order now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells

Non-Fiction

Journey of the Red Wolf

(Cobblehill, April 1996)
Follow the magnificent and rare red wolf from the brink of extinction, to captivity, then back into wild. For many years Roland was the Red Wolf Species coordinator. An insider's look at how animals are reintroduced into the wild.

 

In the Forest with the Elephants

coauthor
Dr. Michael J. Schmidt, DVM
(Harcourt Brace)

Deep in the Myanmar Forest, Won Lin spots his elephant, Toe Lai, and calls, "La, la, la." Toe Lai fans out his ears, takes a last bite of grass, then lumbers toward Won Lin. It's time to go to work.

A century ago there were more than a hundred thousand elephants in Asia; today there are just thirty-five thousand. Only Myanmar--where nearly one-third of Asia's remaining elephants live-- can boast a healthy elephant population. Thousands of elephants roam in the wild there, and thousands more work with humans to harvest valuable wood. As Won Lin and Toe Lai's story reveals, this working partnership between elephants and humans may be the key to preserving the elephants themselves as well as their forest home.

Sea Otter Rescue

(Cobblehill, 1990)

In 1989 a supertanker named the Exxon Valdez ran into Bligh Reef spilling 6 million gallons of oil into the pristine waters of Alaska's Prince William Sound. This books recounts the heroic efforts to save Alaska's sea otters from this terrible disaster.

Order now at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles or Powells.

Inside the Zoo Nursery

(Cobblehill, 1993)

In this book Roland takes you behind the scenes at a zoo nursery. Why are baby animals taken from their mothers? What are lion cubs fed? How do zoos reintroduce these human-raised babies back to their own kind?

African Elephants

(Lerner, 1995) For younger readers.

Part of Lerner's "Early Bird Nature Books" series. Go to Africa with Roland and learn all about the largest land mammal on earth. Why do elephants have trunks instead of noses? How long is a female pregnant? What do elephants use their trunks for?

Vultures

(Lerner, 1997)

Part of the Lerner "Early Bird Nature Books" series. Describes the life cycle, behavior, eating habits, and endangered status of vultures.

Primates in the Zoo

Go behind the scenes at the zoo and find out how primates are kept and how poisonous snakes are handled. Learn how whales are trained and what happens when a big cat escapes.

 

Snakes in the Zoo

 

 

 

 

Cats in the Zoo

 

 

 

 

Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises in the Zoo

 

 

 

Novels

I.Q. Book Two: The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue:
There was another knock on my door. I opened it.
Standing in the hallway was a very serious Secret Service agent.
"The President would like to see you both in the Oval Office," he said.
"Now?" I asked. It was 3 a.m.
He gave me a curt nod.
"Maybe we should change," I said.
"You're fine," the agent said. "He's waiting. Follow me."
Angela and I were going to meet the president of the United States in our pj's.

In Book One: Independence Hall, we met Q and his stepsister, Angela. We met their rocker parents, Blaze and Roger; we met the Secret Service team protecting the family; and we met the main players of the Mossad team that is following them.

Book Two takes us on another thrilling caper, this time to the White House where Q and Angela continue their quest to uncover the truth behind the supposed death of Angela's real mother - a former Secret Service agent - while trying to differentiate the "good guys" from the "bad guys."

Available now at: Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Powell's

I.Q. Book One: Independence Hall

My new series, IQ just came out, preview the web page! Book One is called: Independence Hall. Curriculum is ready too.

Thirteen-year-old Quest (Q for short) used to live with his mother, a singer, on a sailboat in Sausalito, California. Fifteen-year-old Angela lived with her father, a songwriter, in a loft in San Francisco. Now their parent are married and Q and Angela are on a luxury motor coach traveling around the country on tour with their parents' new band called Match. Their schoolwork for the year is a Web diary of their travels. Perfect… Q can practice his magic tricks and Angela can read her spy novels. What could go wrong?

Reviewed by Focus on the Family.

Elephant Run

Elephant Run has been honored with a 2009 ALA Best Books for Young Adults sponsored by The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).

In 1941, bombs drop from the night skies of London, demolishing the apartment Nick Freestone lives in with his mother. Deciding the situation in England is too unstable, Nick's mother sends him to live with his father in Burma, hoping he will be safer living on the family's teak plantation. Curriculum is ready.

Peak

Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he's left with two choices: wither away in Juvenile Detention or go live with his long-lost father, who runs a climbing company in Thailand. But Peak quickly learns that his father's renewed interest in him has strings attached. Big strings.

Order the book today at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells.

Novels - Series

Zach's Lie

When 13-year-old Jack Osborne's father is arrested for drug trafficking, Jack, his older sister Joanne, and their mother are forced to flee their comfortable home and take on new identities through the Witness Relocation Program.

Order now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells.

 

Jack's Run

When Jack Osborne's father was arrested for drug trafficking, he agreed to tell the authorities everything he knew about his ex-boss, the ruthless drug czar Alonzo Aznar. But betraying a man as powerful as Alonzo has consequences. The Osbornes have spent the last year in hiding, forced to take on new identities and live under the close surveillance of the Witness Security program.

Now, with his trial date fast approaching, Alonzo intensifies his hunt for Jack's family. One slipup, and Alonzo will find them, making sure no Osborne survives to testify against him. Jack has messed up once before, and he won't do it again. Unfortunately, someone else in the family hasn't been as careful...

Read the first chapter of Jack’s Run here.

Check for the book at your local library or bookstore. Order it here from Amazon, Barnes&Noble or Powells.

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Novels - Series

Cryptid Hunter

After their parents are lost in an accident, thirteen-year old twins Grace and Marty are whisked away to live with their Uncle Wolfe-an uncle that they didn't even know they had! The intimidating Uncle Wolfe is an anthropologist who has dedicated his life to finding cryptids, mysterious creatures believed to be long extinct.

Order it now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells.

Tentacles

Marty and Grace O'Hara's globe-trotting parents disappeared while on assignment for a nature magazine, and now they're living with their Uncle Wolfe, a scientist fascinated by cryptids--creatures that appear in myths but haven't been proven to exist, such as the Loch Ness Monster. Wolfe is planning an expedition to New Zealand to track a giant squid, and he's rented a huge (and possibly haunted) freighter for the trip. But someone on board is determined to sabotage their mission--and if Marty and Grace keeping poking their noses into things, they might end up the saboteur's next victims!

Order now at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles or Powells.

Tentacle Review from School Library Journal

Review by Teens Read Too.

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The Captain's Dog

As a pup Seaman never imagined that his life would hold much excitement -- beyond chasing down rats on the banks of the Ohio River. But the day he met Captain Meriwether Lewis, his prospects changed forever.

With Captain Lewis, his partner, Captain William Clark, and the men of the Corps of Discover, Seaman found himself on an incredible journey into the American wilderness west of the Mississippi. Charged with charting the best path across America to the Pacific Ocean, Lewis and Clark led the Corps and their devoted Newfoundland dog up rushing rivers, across vast prairies, and over snow-covered mountains. It was a landmark expedition. It was a search that changed a nation. And for Seaman, it was the greatest adventure he'd ever had.

Order now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Powells.

Sasquatch

(Hyperion 1998)
Dylan's father has always been a little strange -- he spends most of his time making notes on odd topics and storing them away in boxes. But when Dylan's mother leaves for Egypt, his father seems to get out of control. He joins a Sasquatch-hunting team led by top-bigfoot researcher, Theodore Flagg. The team's mission is to find a Sasquatch and kill it - but Dylan's father is determined to stop them. To make matters worse, the team has headed up to Mount St. Helens, an active volcano that could erupt any day. Without Dylan's mother to look out for his father, Dylan feels he has to try to keep him in line. So he joins aging field biologist, Samuel Johnson, on the mountain, shadowing the hunting party through their walkie-talkies. But Dylan may be in even more trouble than he thought-- Mr. Johnson is not the man he seems to be. Even as they are following Dr. Flagg's team, somebody is following Mr. Johnson. And on top of it all, Dylan is beginning to realize that his father may not be so crazy after all - maybe the Sasquatch does exist, and it's closer than Dylan ever guessed.

Order from Amazon, Barnes and Nobles or Powells.

Novels - Series

Thunder Cave

(Hyperion, 1995)

Jacob Lansa watches in horror as the poachers carve up elephant carcasses.

He wants to stop them, but he is far outnumbered, and the poachers have guns. Was it only last week that Jacob traveled to Kenya in search of his father, who had gone there to study elephants? In that short time, Jacob crossed miles of Kenyan bush, came face-to-face with a lion, and nearly died of dehydration. Then he met Supeet, a Masai with a quest of his own -- to bring the rains and end the drought that is devastating his country. Can Jacob and Supeet find Jacob's father, end the drought, and save the great elephants before the last one has been slaughtered?

Order now from Amazon, Barnes and Nobles or Powells.

Jaguar

(Hyperion, 1997)
"I heard a noise behind me. Before I could turn around, someone shoved me into the bookshelves. Then grabbed me and slammed me down on the floor... "

When Jacob Lansa joined his father in Brazil, his biggest worry was whether Doc would let him stay or send him back to Poughkeepsie. But his father's expedition to create a jaguar preserve is beset with violence--a massive explosion destroys their boat and Jake is viciously attacked before their journey even begins.

More danger is ahead. Before the voyage upriver is over, Jacob will witness first-hand the havoc man has wrought on a fragile environment, and come face-to-face with those who will stop at nothing to gain what they want.

Order from Amazon, Barnes and Nobles or Powells

The Last Lobo

When Jacob travels with his grandfather, Taw, back to the Hopi reservation where he was born, he gets a lot more than a quiet trip to the desert. He quickly discovers that the Hopi on the reservation are divided over a lobo, a Mexican wolf. Some believe the lobo is a spirit of the plains--a ghost wolf. But others want to kill the animal because it is hunting livestock on the reservation, even though it may be the last of its kind.

Jake knows that if the lobo does exist, he must do everything in his power to help it before it is killed or captured. He must figure out a way to trap the wild wolf and let it loose in a place where it can be truly free and untamed. But time is running out--can Jake save the lobo before it is wiped out for good.

In this thrilling action filled environmental adventure, Jacob Lansa from THUNDER CAVE and JAGUAR is back once again this time Jake must help save an endangered animal before it is killed off by its most dangerous enemy.

Order now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Powells.

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