The Mafia Philosopher by Shaun Attwood

The Mafia Philosopher by Shaun Attwood

Everyday kids learn how they can help protect bird species, near and far, with the award-winning book Counting Birds--the real-life story behind the first annual bird count.

What can you do to help endangered animals and make a positive change in our environment? Get counting Counting Birds is a beautifully illustrated book that introduces kids to the idea of bird counts and bird watches. Along the way, they will learn about Frank Chapman, an ornithologist who wanted to see the end of the traditional Christmas bird hunt, an event in which people would shoot as many birds as possible on Christmas. Chapman, using his magazine Bird-Lore to promote the idea of counting birds, founded the first annual bird count.

More than a century after the first bird count, bird counting helps professional researchers collect data, share expertise, and spread valuable information to help all kinds of birds around the world, from condors to hawks to kestrels and more.

Counting Birds introduces kids to a whole feathered world that will fascinate and inspire them to get involved in conservation and become citizen scientists.

• ​2019 Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students: K-12 (National Science Teachers Association and Children's Book Council)
• 2019 Best STEM Book for K-12 Students (National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council)
• Winner of the 2019 Riverby Award (The John Burroughs Association)
• Recipient of the 2019 Green Earth Book Award Honor (The Nature Generation)

Shaun Attwood is a former stock market millionaire and Ecstasy dealer who is now a public speaker, author, and activist who has been barred from entering the United States for the rest of his life. His experience was featured in an episode of Locked Up/Banged Up Overseas called Raving Arizona on the National Geographic Channel, which is available on YouTube. Shaun's writing, smuggled out of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's facility with the worst death rate in America, drew international media attention to the jail's human rights violations: guard and gang member murders, dead rats in the food, bug infestations... Shaun was forced to reconsider his life while incarcerated. In just over six years, he read over 1,000 volumes.

He wanted to better understand himself and his past behavior by studying original works in psychology and philosophy. He considers literature to be the lifeblood of his recovery. Shaun now speaks to schools about his experience to help young people avoid drugs and criminality. Via his books and blog, Jon's Prison Journal, he fights injustice.

He has been on the BBC, Sky News, and other television networks around the world to discuss issues impacting inmates' rights.