Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915) was a French naturalist who penned many writings about his beloved insects. These essay/stories describe, in great detail, his encounters with some interesting insects – how he worked with them and what he discovered about them. For instance The material is informative and even humorous at times, but rather dense (definitely not dry!). Here is a sample, from "The Pine Processionary"...

You voracious little creatures, if I let you have your way, I should soon be robbed of the murmur of my once so leafy pines! Today I will seek compensation for all the trouble I have taken. Let us make a compact. You have a story to tell. Tell it me; and for a year, for two years or longer, until I know more or less all about it, I shall leave you undisturbed, even at the cost of lamentable suffering to the pines.

Although it might be suitable for high school students and could possibly be read aloud to younger students, it constitutes a portion of the Freshman Lab studies at Thomas Aquinas College. J. Henri Fabre is listed as one of the authors recommended in Catholic Authors: 4-Sight Edition.

A compilation of some of these stories, titled Fabre's Book of Insects is available from Emmanuel Books.

A very nice, detailed and academic-oriented coloring book for learning about wild animals. In addition to beautiful line drawings of 47 different animals from around the world, the text provides common and scientific names and details about appearance, location, habits, size, etc. The index includes both common and scientific names as well, for easy look-up. Illustrations are royalty free (within certain conditions) and may be copied for use within your family.

Dover offers a couple of examples of how the finished images might look:

A beautifully illustrated look at where various animals go when it snows and how they prepare for winter. We learn details of the migration of various animals (such as birds, butterflies and bats), animals that hibernate, animals that store up food for the winter and animals that have to find their food throughout the winter. Includes instructions for feeding birds and other wild animals in your own backyard.

This is a very interesting book (with excellent illustrations) that introduces young children to various falcons living in the United States, some of their remarkable abilities and the story of how some scientists were successful in re-introducing the peregrine falcon in the Eastern United States after they nearly became extinct because of an insect spray called DDT which was overused earlier in the twentieth century. The story focuses on Scarlett, a peregrine falcon who was born in captivity, released, and discovered building a nest thirty-three stories up on the ledge of a skyscraper in Baltimore. This location made observation ideal and we learn that she managed to find a wild falcon for a mate and that their offspring have helped significantly in restoring the falcon population.