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Describes what has been learned about the physical appearance, behavior, and surroundings of the long-extinct woolly mammoth. ... Read more

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Describes what is known of this prehistoric ancestor of the elephant, based on the preserved remains of mammoth bodies. ... Read more

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Its trumpeting cries blasted into the cold Siberian air. But its mighty struggles only pulled it deeper into the soft mud. . . .

Could this have been the fate of the young woolly mammoth discovered more than 20,000 years after it died? As scientists carefully thaw this giant intact prehistoric mammal, they hope to learn more about how the species lived and why it–the largest mammal to ever live–became extinct. But most important, this animal’s well-preserved body may help answer an incredible question–can the mammoth be cloned and one day walk the earth again?

Breathtaking, accurate illustrations; full-color photographs; fascinating maps; and informative diagrams bring the story of the amazing mammoth to life in this large-size hardcover.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Text recreates their lives, world and habits
Mark Hallett provides the eye-catching color drawings which explain the lives and fate of the woolly mammoths. Text recreates their lives, world and habits while the color drawings bring these giant creatures alive - on the page. Good reading skills required. ... Read more

Product Description
Looking for an escape from the heat? Kids will laugh out loud at the lively illustrations in Neal Layton’s tale of two fun-loving, enterprising mammoths.

For wild and woolly mammoths like Oscar and Arabella, playing in the ice and snow and arctic winds of an Ice Age winter is the coolest fun. But when the snow starts to melt, and thousands of brightly colored plants sprout up and irritate their eyes, and insects are swarming, and it just gets hotter and hotter and hotter, it seems there’s no end to their misery. Then one day, the shaggy pair comes up with a bright idea. It may be a close shave, but it looks like they’ve finally found a way to enjoy the hottest summer ever! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Silly quirky book
My three year-old son and I really like this book.It's silly and quirky.A simple little fun book which will introduce kids to mammoths that lived during the last ice age.

Review by GMC level 1, 2006
I like the book "Hot Hot Hot".Neal Layton is the author and the illustrator.The book is about the Ice age.In the summer it gets hotter and hotter.Oscar cuts his hair.He cuts Arabellas too.I think children would like this book ... Read more

Product Description
Did you know...

• that wooly mammoths were plant eaters?

• that they lived during the Ice Age, protected by their thick coats and layers of fat?

• that their bones were used to make shelters, jewelry and even musical instruments?

Follow Aliki back thousands of years, to the time of the wooly mammoths--the ancestors of today's modern elephants.Learn about how they lived, what they ate and how they struggled to survival against their greatest enemy--humans.And find out what the wooly mammoth can teach us about the world we live in today.

Travel back thousands of years to explore the exciting world of woolly mammoths. Learn how they lived, what they ate, and how they struggled to survive against their greatest enemy—humans.
This revised edition includes text revisions and bold new illustrations, which bring new life to this backlist classic.

‘A fascinating glimpse of woolly mammoths and the cave dwellers who hunted them.’ — Starred Review/School Library Journal

... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Eric's evaluation
I like this book because it has my favorite animals--woolly rhinoceros and woolly mammoth. My favorite part was when they killed the mammoth. Other kids would like this book because it is fun.

Wild and Wooly facts galore and great pics too!
We had to buy this book becuase my 1st grader kept taking it out of his school library.We have purchased several books by Aliki because not only are the pictures engaging, but the text is full of great facts in a format that kids can absorb. There is a pictoral guide to all types of mammoths and a scale to show relative size, countries of origin and when they went extinct.The book also does a good job to show the methods by which they were hunted and illustrates the tools used by ancient humans to use all the parts of the mammoth.

Mahnomen, Minnesota Third Graders
This book was very interesting.Our class read this together.We learned that mammoths are extinct and that hunters used their bones and furs to survive. Aliki has a lot of talent for writing and illustrating.We recommend this book and his book called "Fossils".

beautiful illustrations, clear text
This book encompasses man as hunter, diversity of species, extinction, scientific inquiry --while being firmly grounded and tangible.The phrases are broken up on the page the same way that I pace the story when I read aloud.The explanations and transitions are clear and logical (except the second page which abruptly mentions the dinosaurs and then bounces back to the Ice Age again.) Wonderful book for curious minds.

Akiki Does It Again !
As an elementary school teacher, I am always on the "look out" for books that will enthrall my students.Aliki never disappoints.Wild and Wooly Mammoths is an intersting and enjoyable book.My students lovedthe beautiful illustrations and the easy to read format.The book ispacked with fascinating facts and details.My students looked forward toreading time and asked to read other books by Aliki.We bought class setsof Mummies Made in Egypt and also The Medieval Feast.Children simply lovethese books and the wonderful illustrations.All my students voted Wildand Wooly Mammoths as a class favorite.I recommend this book for allelementary students. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Beautiful and fascinating non-fiction for youth
From the first sentence I was drawn into this fascinating account of the discovery of a well-preserved baby wooly mammoth, and the history of mammoths and their relatives.The author nicely relates this back to crucial questions for today, such as how do we help preserve the elephant population?The writing is spot-on for the audience: not too technical, but well researched and scientific.I especially liked how she handled animal death in a sensitive way.Plenty of photos, illustrations, maps and interviews with scientists keep everything clear and moving along. Great job!I would have no problem suggesting this for a school report, or as a gift to a budding scientist or animal lover. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (8)

Beautiful Art and Rhyming Verse
This is a story told in rhyming verse which explains the migration of woolly mammoths as they traveled from from the steppes of the arctic tundra to the northern prairies and grasslands below the glacier lines. The pictures are primarily in black and white and are stunningly designed for instant eye appeal to children. This is my daughter's favorite.

one of my son's favorite
After getting this book at the library, we feel in love with it and wanted to buy our own copy. The illustrations are beautiful and the text, simple and poetic. A great addition to our collection.

Alaziah's review
My favorite animal is the mammoth because they help people. My favorite part was when they were swimming. The book has good pictures.

Jasmine's evaluation
I liked this book because it has rhyming words. My favorite part of this book was when (the calves) get in the middle (of the herd of female mammoths).

Teona's evaluation
I like this book because mammoths can swim under water. My favorite part of the book was when the mammoths headed back up north again (from their migration down south). Other kids would like this book because it happened 10,000 years ago. ... Read more

Product Description
In this adventure, PaleoJoe and his Dinosaur Detective Club, Shelly, and Dakota, help PaleoJoe search for rare blue mammoth tusks in Siberia where our heroes meet up with their old nemesis--Buzzsaw! Kids will devour these dinosaur CSI stories while learning cool facts about their favorite dinosaurs and paleontology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fun Adventure
Will there be more?? As of now, this is the last book in this delightful dinosaur CSI series featuring the intrepid trio 11-year-old Shelly Brooks, her skate boarding, adventure seeking friend Dakota Jackson, and their mentor the great dinosaur detective, PaleoJoe.Full of humor and suspense, this adventure takes place in the frozen landscape of Siberia. The dinosaur detectives are on the trail of a pair of rare blue mammoth tusks. As in all of these adventures, the atmosphere of place is brought to life in vivid detail.Here we meet the Dolgan, nomadic people of the Taimyr Peninsula and reindeer herders.Intriguing facts and details about fossils and fossil hunting are interwoven with the fast paced action of the tale.This is a laugh out loud book, a great read aloud book, a page turner, and a story that any 9 to 11 year old - boy or girl -- interested in dinosaurs and adventure will love.Read it!

bad product or bad service
I bought this last book of the series for my son from Amazon because it is no longer available in the bookshop, and when it arrived in a padded package I was relieved and also found that the corners of the book were not damaged.However I was so shocked, and angry too, to find that the 200 pages book had been folded or bent and the front cover page has a deep crease vertically right through the middle.I re-examined the package and found no signs of having been folded.So my guess is that (from the damage to the book) the man who located the book from the warehouse shelf and then brought it out for delivery was simply too lazy to carry the book and he just folded it and stuffed it down the back pocket of his pants.I rang Amazon and complained and they gave me a 20% refund but I am still feeling angry over this such bad experience because I had to explain to a little boy why the book is damaged, why Daddy bought some cheap damaged book that he had waited and waited for.The answer is there are bad heart people in Amazon who would damage your goods on purpose.That's the plain truth. ... Read more

Product Description

A Woolly Mammoth Journey travels back in time to follow a pack of woolly mammoths across rivers, plains, and glacial ridges on their annual migration to familiar feeding grounds. Along the way, a new calf is born and learns to walk, use her trunk to get food, and play with other young mammoths in the herd. As the seasons pass, the mammoths prepare for the long winter and try to protect each other from predators and the changing climate. Packed with information and featuring vibrant full-color illustrations, A Woolly Mammoth Journey brings the far-distant past—and its long-lost wildlife—strikingly close.

Product Description
Buried in the permafrost of Siberia for more than twenty thousand years, the Jarkov mammoth has recently been unearthed. In this fascinating book, readers are given an in-depth account of the woolly mammoth¹s existence and extinction. Packed with fascinating facts and gripping, full-color action photos of the expedition scientists took in Siberia, this book is a must-read for any child interested in our planet¹s icy past!Amazon.com Review
In 1997, a 9-year-old nomadic reindeer herder came across a pair of woolly mammoth tusks buried in the frozen tundra of Siberia. Knowing that the ivory in these tusks was worth a lot of money, young Simion Jarkov and his brother Gennadi removed the tusks and set out to sell them. But when a French explorer named Bernard Buigues heard about the discovery, he started wondering if the entire mammoth carcass could be removed intact from the permafrost. Thus began the first recovery of a complete adult woolly mammoth.

Presented partially in diary form, Woolly Mammoth tells the fascinating story of the excavation of the Jarkov mammoth. Readers will also learn what mammoths looked like, where they lived, what they ate, how they spent their days, and try to guess how they became extinct. Intriguing illustrations give a sense of life hundreds of thousands of years ago, while photographs reveal the thrill of discovery and the scientific unraveling of the mystery surrounding these ancient beasts. Young readers will even be given an opportunity to ponder the ethics of DNA cloning. Windsor Chorlton's writing reflects the excitement of the scientists--and the world--even as he provides tons of basic (though remarkable) information. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Woolly Mammoth
I read Woolly Mammoth.
I though it was interesting because it tells you how they found it.
It talked about how they found and got the mammoths out of the middle of nowhere.
I think kids in grade 4 would enjoy this book.
I recommend this book because it is really interesting.

Dig Deep Into the Past
This book is an excellent resource for the classroom
teacher of upper elementary students. Not only are there
numerous interesting & little known facts about the various
types of Mammoths, but one of the participants in the recent
Zarkov excavation shares every facet of the two-year
expedition to unearth a Mammoth that has been preserved for
23,000 years! The photos in this book are excellent, and it
serves as a companion to the Discovery video "Raising the
Mammoth." My fifth graders actually loved this documentary,
and were delighted that the book includesmuch of the same
information along with bits of trivia about these mysterious
creatures. My students are constantly passing this book
around to share with each other. This is AMAZING because they
don't like to read! I highly recommend this book for its
educational value. You won't be disappointed!

Engaging Reading
During the summer of 1997 a young boy discovered mammoth tusks sticking out of the tundra in Siberia.This book documents the efforts of a team of scientists from around the world to remove the mammoth from the permafrost.Information about the behavior, migration, and extinction of mammoths is included.Photographs from the expedition, diagrams, and maps round out the text.The text also raises the question of whether or not it would be ethical to clone mammoths if it became scientifically possible.The ultimate answer is left to the student.This book would be a great addition to any middle school library. ... Read more

Product Description

After the age of the dinosaurs, strange and powerful mammals ruled the earth. . . .

Product Description
Provides information on the physical characteristics, behavior, and habits of the prehistoric animal known as the woolly mammoth. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (18)

Delightful celebration of Alaska and family
I think I am beginning to become a fan of Shelley Gill. I am a Utah desert girl, but I have always had an interest in visiting Alaska, and her love of the state is truly palpable, especially in this book.Her story is a fairly modern one of a boy who is afraid of the dark--kind of a paradox of his Inuit heritage combined with the sensibilities of the modern world.So Grandpa takes him on a trip back in time to how things used to be.

Gill's writing is lovely, descriptive, and invokes a true declaration of the natural world.The illustrations are bright, detailed, and just cheering to look upon.

This probably did not change my life, this book, but it's enough to keep me reading Gill.

Ashley River El.
I liked the book Mammoth Magic. Becase of what it was about in Alask.I realy liked it.

Brianne@ Ashley River El
The book I read was Mammoth Magic. I liked several things about this book.One thing I liked about the book is it's illustrations.The reason I said this is because the illustrations really bring things out.Another thing I liked is the words.She really uses variety.My favorite part is when Toby faced up to being scared of the dark.

The reason I gave Shelley Gill 5 stars is because she makes her books so interesting and she makes you want to read more of her books.From reading that one book she makes me want to read many others.

Glenn Ashley River El
I like this book because it's really creative .I also like itbecause of the illustrationsin the book. Another thing is that it's words are creative. what happens is that when there was a tree, well i thought it was, but it wasn't.

Summer at Ashley River
I like this book because it is funny and interesting.I think it is cool that ToebucktaughtAndy about the mammoth and their great size. That helped Andy not to be afraid of the dark . ... Read more

Product Description
The mammoth is one of the great icons of extinction. This book tells the exciting story of the mammoth, how it lived and died and how its memory lives on in the present day. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Small Book, but a Good Introduction
This little book is a surprisingly complete introduction to Mammoths. It talks about the fossil finds, the things we have learned about them, where they lived, basically everything there is to know about mammoths.

Although this book is probably aimed at a younger audience, it is surprisingly complete. Numerous pictures, particularily of the finds in Siberia, are included along with brief but informative text. Unfortunately I don't see the head and tusks of the Mammoth dug out of the Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada and on display here in Winnemucca.

Mammoths have gained a respect and recognition that very few extinct animals have, especially of mammals. Even their name has entered our vocabulary as a word for big. This is neither a complex nor difficult book, but is a good introduction. ... Read more

Product Description

This book covers mammalian evolution from the aftermath of the dinosaur extinction to the glacial climax of the Pleistocene epoch, from early lemur-like primates to giant cold-climate adapted mega-mammals, such as the woolly mammoth or mastodon.

Customer Reviews (8)

Challenging but worth the time and effort
Written for the specialist or student in evolutionary biology and paleontology this book can nevertheless be studied by anyone who has an interest in these topics. For this reviewer, the main interest in this book was in the effect of climate on mammalian extinctions, with the hopes of shedding light on the current debate on climate change/global warming. Since the book is directed towards the specialist, the non-specialist will have to deal with a large amount of terminology, this arising mostly from the classification schemes used in paleontology and zoology. This reviewer found it helpful to use a few note sheets along the way to assist in remembering some of the scientific names of the major fauna that did exist in the time frame over which the book covers. Having some background in biology and geophysics will also help in the assimilation of the material in the book, particularly in cases where the authors are discussing dating techniques.

There is no part of this book that is uninteresting, and the excellent plates and drawings in the book add to the pleasure in its perusal. And the book went beyond this reviewer's expectations regarding the effects of climate change on mammalian extinctions: there are many examples discussed in the book and a few surprises, such as the assertion that the Mediterranean was completely desiccated around 6,000,000 years ago (the late Miocene). Early on though the authors caution the reader that even though much is known now regarding the time series of temperatures and oceanic changes throughout the last 65,000,000 years, one cannot conclude that there is an exact correlation between changes in climate and changes in mammalian ecosystems.

Very interesting also is how the authors deduce the dietary habits of extinct mammals by examining their fossilized teeth and jawbones. This "comparative" paleontology allows one to ascertain what flora were more prevalent in ages past by comparing the dental arrangements of modern mammals with those that are extinct. The variability in dental morphology it seems does have a direct correlation with the floral that were present during the time frame that the mammal was alive. An excellent example of this, which the authors discuss in the book, is the presence of `hypsodonty', which is dental morphology wherein the teeth have high crowns and enamel that extends beyond the gum line. The authors explain this as an adaptation to the silica grains that would be present in the grasses of the Pliocene age. Mammals without this adaptation would face extinction pressures due to the quick abrasion of the teeth due to these grains.

Another interesting discussion in the book concerns the `Monterey hypothesis', which is an attempt to understand the "climate crisis" in the middle Miocene in terms of the sequestering of large quantities of organic carbon. This resulted in accelerated global cooling because of the drawdown of atmospheric CO2 and the end of certain warm-water circulations. The authors discuss the experimental evidence for this hypothesis.

Mammalian extinctions can therefore be caused by climate change as well as genetics. The authors however point to another cause of these extinctions, namely the rise of the homo sapiens species, which the authors characterize as being "unique" in "its ability to exterminate other species." They give evidence to support this, but also note that that modern humans also fall prey to the very mammals that benefit from human expansion, such as the rats in the Middle Ages. But as they also note, H. sapiens is a wandering species. They moved into Australia as well as North America, and of course now dominate the planet. But this species, which on rare occasions decimates its own, is insatiably curious and has shown absolute brilliance throughout its sojourn on Earth...and on other worlds where it is just getting started.

A Looong, Hard Trek...
... through 65 million years of "punctuated" mammalian evolution, based on the vast fossil record of greater Europe. If you don't have something of a fresh background in archaeological zoology, if concepts like "clades" and "radiations" are unfamiliar, if you've never been able to keep the Eocene separate from the "epicene", you'll never get past the first 5 million years. There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of words used freely in this book that are not part of our everyday vocabulary; on ONE random page, (56), I find: microchoerid, adapid, dimorphism, creodont, hypercarnivorous, sectorial, cursorial, digitigrade, miacid, canid, ursid, amphicyonid, paleothere, lophiodontid, and brachydont. And that doesn't include the italicized Genus/species names! Now many readers will be able to handle these terms, based on recognition of their Latin/Greek roots, but the onslaught of specialized vocabulary continues for 281 large pages. If you think I'm trying to scare you, you're right. I don't want you to waste your money.

Nevertheless, this is a profoundly interesting and significant study of evolution within a delimited geography, revealing better than anything else I've read the random and contingent relationship between Darwin's "descent with modification" and the "catastrophic" events of the environment. By observing the waves of equilibrium and extinction/replacement in relation to changes in sea level, opening/closing of land-bridges due to continental drift, and huge shifts of climate, one can understand "evolution" over vast epochs of time far more credibly. The latter subject - climate change - makes this book more pertinent at present than mere intellectual curiosity. Climate change has been real. It has resulted in massive extinctions... and massive evolution of new forms, "endless forms most beautiful." By studying the climate changes of the past, we do have some chance of predicting the impact of the rapid climate change now occurring (with or without the uninformed consent of the McPalin crowd) and hedging our bets about our own chances as a species. I'm delighted, personally, by the realization that global warming will stimulate the evolution of wonderful new species, even new genera, within a few thousand years, but I'm unlikely to be around to see them.

The difficulty of the text is partly relieved by excellent illustrations, including very clear drawings of key fossils and plausible re-imagining of the mammals they came from. In pictures and in words, you'll encounter a parade of preposterous critters - far more and far stranger than Noah's Ark could possibly have carried - all of which thrived and multiplied in some niche in the ever-changing environment of Europe. Among them, by the way, were monkeys, baboons, hominids, Homo erectus, Homo antecessor, Homo neanderthalis, and Homo sapiens -- all supplanted, alas, by Homo not-so-sapiens-after-all.

Eagerly awaiting a second edition
I must confess feeling a bit unfair about giving this book bad press. First, as the other reviewers have mentioned, the illustrations are breathtaking (and yes, buy "The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives" as well). You don't have to be an evolution buff to enjoy Mauricio Antón's vivid drawings of monster pig entelodons, bizarrely pronged paleomerycids or huge-headed giant creodont predators. Another reviewer mentioned machairodonts; my personal favorites are the gorilla/horse-crossbreed-like chalicotheres.
Second, the task of covering 65 myr of mammalian succession in a reader-friendly way is just about impossible; after all, we are talking about hundreds of genera known only by their latin names (and most paleontologists are oddly adverse to giving cool names like "Tyrannosaurus", sometimes they rather go for stuff like "Brachydiceratherium", "Paracynohyaenodon" or even "Parachleuastochoerus"). The book succeeds in compiling all of this chaos, and it contains an immense, invaluable amount of information. It is all in all a unique and beautiful work on an extremely interesting topic and heartily recommmended on those grounds alone.

However: Despite its popular format the text is unforgiving in its demands on the reader. Clearly one has to have a fair comprehension of geological epochs, but also quite specialized bio-jargon like "sclerophyllous", "fossorial" or "selenodont". Maybe I'm the dummy here, but sometimes I've been quite puzzled as to who exactly the intended audience is. Are there really anybody out there who on one hand can visualize "bunodont" teeth, but on the other needs explanations of terms like "artiodactyl" or "felid"? Please guys, this could have been so infinitely much better if you'd just included:

- A glossary
- Maps (it's hard to visualize the rapidly changing European geography from descriptions alone)
- Phylogenetic trees (even if one would need non-European clades to fill in the gaps)

It would also be great to have:

- Time lines
- Illustrations of salient anatomical characteristics (like the difference between Creodonta and Carnivora)

So when I choose to cut down my rating to a meagre three stars, it's more a cry to the authors to create a second edition than to actually deter buyers. Buy this book. If you know the jargon, great; if not, read it with a dictionary and a notebook. Enjoy.


PS Top reviewer John Matlock "Gunny" has written almost 4000 reviews on all kinds of books, seemingly all of which are awarded five-star ratings. According to his profile he reviewed 6 other books the same day as MSaH. Just ignore commercial reviewers, folks.

Easy to Read, but lots of Big Names
This is a fairly short, one volume introduction to sixty-five million years of life in Europe. Most of the interest, most of the books on evolutionary history seem to concentrate on the era of the dinosaurs. But when the comet hit, they were gone. Mammals took over the econogical niche previously held by the dinosaurs.

We seem to feel that the mammals jumped full blown into what we see today. This book details the history of how the mammals came to take over the top of the pyramid. At the beginning there was only the small almost rodent like mammals that had existed alongside the dinosaurs. The book begins here, but points out that there is relatively little record from that time. The mammals were small and difficult to find in fossil form. From here the book goes on to the evolution of humans during only the last couple of million years.

Well written and easy to read, the book covers a little known era. You will find though, an awful lot of new (and big) words to describe the various animals.

Tough to Read
"Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids" describes the evolution of mammals in Europe over the past 65 million years, an immense stretch of time that this humble reader still struggles to comprehend.The author describes in detail the creatures that once lived in Europe, from the small and archaic, e.g. multituberculates, to the large and more modern, e.g. mammoths.Some mention is also made of non-mammals such as the killer birds and crocodiles.The book is lavishly illustrated with several full color plates in the center and numerous black-and-white sketches throughout the text.Mauricio Anton's pictures alone make the book worth owning for any prehistoric mammal enthusiast.The downside to this work, and why I only rate the book 4 stars, is that it's rather tough to read for someone who's not well-versed in the jargon of biology and paleontology.A glossary would have been really helpful.A hefty bibliography is supplied for those who wish to immerse themselves in the scholarly literature.I must admit that I had to start over a couple of times to grasp the material.This book isn't quite the readable account of mammalian evolution I was hoping for, having just recently been inspired to learn more about the subject by "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts".Students and grad-students in the field will certainly enjoy it, however. ... Read more