Woolly Monkeys spend most of their time high up in 150-foot-tall trees. That makes them difficult animals to count and to study. But cameras have provided valuable information and taken, as this book shows, amazing pictures. Experts now believe that Peru's lowland monkeys and the waste they produce are necessary to the survival of the rain forest.

The giant panda is much-beloved in China, but in the past 40 years, at least half of its habitat has been destroyed. Camp Panda tells about efforts to reintroduce the giant pandas into the wild so that they might have a future. As part of the efforts, people wear panda costumes that smell like pandas while weighing and measuring the young pandas. They aren't supposed to get used to seeing and being around people, because people could pose a threat to them in the wild.

Carl Safina studied elephants in an African national park and killer whales off the coast of Washington state. He learned about their strong family bonds, the surprising ways they communicate and how they play and hang out with one another. This book makes a strong case for protecting the ability of these animals to live freely.

This book focuses on seven groups of animals — including whooping cranes, California condors and American alligators — that were brought back to healthy numbers by a lot of efforts. As she celebrates these successes, Nancy F. Castaldo also makes clear that dangers, such as the effects of climate change, still cloud the future of these creatures.

Todd Bol, a retired businessman, could never have expected that a wooden container he built in his front yard one day would have the global impact it does today.

Bol built a dollhouse-size structure that looked like a schoolhouse on a post and he put it in his yard as a free community library to remember his mother, who was a book lover and school teacher. Bol’s prototype gave birth to Little Free Library (LFL), a nonprofit organization that seeks to place small, accessible book exchange boxes in neighborhoods around the world. The concept is simple: Neighbors are invited to share a book, leave a book, or both. Today, there are over 50, 000 of these libraries registered in 70 countries.

Almost everyone can register with LFL and start a library as long as the person keeps it in good shape and makes sure that book materials are appropriate for his or her neighborhood. Library owners can create their own library boxes; therefore, the libraries are usually unique in appearance, and there seems to be no limit to the possibilities. One library in California was built out of a used wine container; another in Texas had tiny stairs and bright colored walls. Once registered, libraries are given a number at LFL’s website. The LFL Index lists the locations of all libraries with GPS coordinates (坐标) and other information. Owners receive a sign saying “Little Free Library”.

People say they have been attracted to pick up a book when walking by a Little Free Library, out of curiosity and because it’s convenient. Some library owners say they have met more neighbors since having a little library in their front yard. Bol is also most proud of the way Little Free Library is bringing communities together. “It’s started a neighborhood exchange. It gets people talking and more comfortable with their neighbors,” he says. “This leads to them helping each other.”

On May. 27, 2020, Tselo, from the Tibetan ethnic group, alongside eight other members of the Chinese national mountaineering team (国家登山队) for the mapping and surveying of the elevation (高度) of Qomolangma, reached the highest peak in the world.

“We failed twice before,” said Tselo, the team’s captain, at the recent launch ceremony of the book Approach the Summit of the Earth in Beijing.

With detailed maps and graphics, it provides a fascinating insight into Qomolangma, and its new height, and tells the history of China’s surveying and mapping of the mountain. Readers can also scan QR codes on the pages, accessing audio, video and a virtual (虚拟的) reality 3D map.

“Last year, when we were planning the book, we wanted to present the region using the logic of Earth System Science. Now we are happy to see this book tell a good story about a complete system of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, sand and ice,” says An, a director on the book’s editorial board.

Humans started exploring the peak in 1921 by British mountaineers. The book covers the moment when Chinese people first set foot on the top of the mountain in 1960 and other important moments featuring mountaineers from all over the world.

It also records the start of China’s surveying and mapping of Qomolangma, which began during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), all the way to the most accurate ever recording of its 8,848.86-meter elevation in 2020.

“It’s a big honour for us because, even though we often climb mountains, it not often we get to work on a scientific investigation,” Tselo says. “We encountered a lot of difficulties during the climb, but thinking about our predecessors (前辈) in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, we were inspired by the spirit that helped them overcome the difficulties that, nowadays, we cannot imagine.”

“We hope that the book will provide a window through which readers can learn about Qomolangma and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, be a link between science and society, and make a bigger contribution to protecting the third pole and the harmonious coexistence of people and nature,” says Chen Ping, general manager of the book’s publisher.