Mark Nelson

Planet in a bottle. Eden revisited. Laboratory under glass. The largest self-sustaining closed ecological system ever made. Biosphere 2 is many things to many people. From its half-acre farm to its coral reef to its emerald rainforest-this unique research facility has proven itself a marvel of human engineering and a testament to the human imagination. For two full years from 1991 to 1993, four men and four women lived and worked inside the structure,...

When artists and designers explore or create a fictional setting, the milieu must be completely fleshed out, explained, and designed. In this book, comic and gaming art veteran Mark A. Nelson explores and demonstrates his methods for fashioning visually stunning, believable environments for fantasy creatures and characters. Scores of images and step-by-step examples illustrate how variation and experimentation lead to fresh, original designs for otherworldly...

Cats, big cats, small cats, house cats, alley cats, cats in zoos, cats in the wild. One day you wake up and you're a cat. It happened to me, John Cole, on Saturday morning. I'm a 31 year old computer programmer/troubleshooter out of New York City...and I'm a C-A-T. For the weekend I live as a cat, then the adventure really begins. I become a world traveler and meet the highest rulers in the world only to find out we have less than eighteen months...

Pandora the cat becomes a lighthouse keeper and saves the life of Seabold the dog, and together the two of them create a family with three young mice rescued from the sea.

A security specialist who thrives off of Manhattan's nightlife, D Hunter is the man people turn to when they need help without drawing the attention of the NYPD. When a rising R&B star is kidnapped, music manager Ivy Greenwich hires D for an unusual assignment. Things go well, and D thinks he's done. But Greenwich has other plans: he wants D to escort mega-pop star Bridgette Haze around New York City's top hip hop clubs to give her an edgier, more...

Newbery Medalist Avi carves an imaginative story full of suspense and surprises. For the animals of Central Park, life turns upside down when Big Daddy Duds and his gang of rats move uptown and take over the park. The mayor of Central Park, a squirrel named Oscar Westerwit, is determined to give the park back to its rightful owners-the squirrels, rabbits, and moles. Mark Nilson's lively narration brings to life the critters of Central Park in 1900....

Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant brings the peaceful sounds, sights, and characters of the coast vividly to life in the seventh book of the Lighthouse Family series, in which the family cares for a baby sea lion. One morning, the lighthouse family wakes up to find a baby sea lion asleep in their kitchen! The baby, whose name is Topper, explains that his mother left him here and instructed him to wait for her return. Pandora the cat and Seabold the...

Cynthia Rylant brings the peaceful sounds, sights, and characters of the coast vividly to life in the eighth book of the Lighthouse Family series, in which the family meets a bear who has just woken up from hibernation! After a long winter cooped up in the lighthouse, Whistler and Lila are excited to go outside and explore. In the forest, they see some frosty vapor rising from a hole in the roots of a tree. They investigate and discover that it is...

Whistler and Lila, two of the mice children who live in a lighthouse, meet a young octopus when they visit the beach during low tide.

The history of Fort Bridger represents a microcosm of the development of the American West. Situated in an area initially inhabited by the Shoshone people, Fort Bridger was established during a transitional phase between the fur-trade era and the period of western migration. The fort became one of the most important supply points along the nation's western trail network. Later, the post served as a bastion of civilization as one of a number of western...