Shells

An hourly guide that follows twenty-four mollusks to reveal the fascinating lives behind their shells. From morning to night and from the Arctic to the equator, snails, clams, and other shell-making mollusks have busy days. In this short book, award-winning author and marine biologist Helen Scales shows readers exactly how these animals spend their time. Each chapter of Shell Day features a single mollusk during a single hour, highlighting twenty-four unique species. We begin our day far in the north, where the Svalbard archipelago lies deep in the darkness of the polar night. And yet, in what remains a scientific mystery, Iceland scallops continue daily rhythms, closing and opening their fan-shaped shells using an internal clock. At noon, we observe a clam shell sitting still on the seabed of a sandy tropical lagoon. The two shells open a crack, and a pair of rounded eyes peep out. A small, rust-colored coconut octopus hiding inside lets the clam shells fall apart and gathers them u

A stunning, lavishly illustrated, and information-packed introduction to the wonder of shells through the art of observation - the perfect book for young explorers, collectors, and nature lovers everywhere Award-winning marine biologist Helen Scales introduces children to the wonders of shells (from seashells to land snails) through the art of observation. Using a friendly question-and-answer format, she explores, through a richly sensory experience, the incredible diversity of shells around the world and showcases the environments molluscs inhabit. From what a shell's shape, colour, or texture can reveal about its inhabitant, to where shells are found (from the deepest seas to jungly treetops), with this book, readers can get up close with nature to observe its wonders.