Delicate jellyfish and anemones, octopus, tentacled squid, and bizarre-looking soft-bodied sea creatures were meticulously recreated in glass by father and son artists Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka in the late nineteenth century. Renowned for their beauty and exacting detail, the Blaschka invertebrate models were commissioned by universities and museums throughout the world as teaching models for students of natural science and marine life. Illustrated here for the first time with breathtaking new photography are 60 of the most exquisite models from the exceptional collection of Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology. Together with Harvard's famous Glass Flowers, a new exhibit of these restored glass animals now comprises the largest Blaschka collection on display in the world. Bursting with intricate details and stunning photography, this elegantly designed book will be a must for all those interested in marine biology, the delicate art of glass craftsmanship, the history of science, and the quiet beauty of the natural world."

Long, long ago there was a time when men did not venture into the deep ocean waters. It was believed that the world was flat and to sail beyond the horizon meant falling off the edge of the earth. So even though they were drawn to and fascinated by the ocean, men feared it. And as men lived their lives above the water, far beyond their view and in the ocean's deepest depths lived mysterious and magical sea creatures, half girl and half fish. These shy, gentle creatures were called mermaids and much loved by the ocean. And when men finally overcame their fear and ventured out to sea, risking disaster and even death, it was the mermaids who came to their rescue. Written by award-winning author Trinka Hakes Noble, this original legend explains the origin of sea glass, attributing it to the tears of mermaids, weeping for lives lost at sea.

Illustrator Llyn Hunter has skillfully rendered a variety of easily recognizable as well as less familiar creatures of the sea. Boldly outlined in black on translucent paper, the 16 dramatic images include the amazing clown fish, delightful seahorses, brown pelicans, an Atlantic lobster, common dolphins, a formidable octopus, humpback whales, a magnificent sailfish, a blue crab and designs for seven other species. Nature lovers and coloring-book enthusiasts can bring these splendid illustrations to life with paints, crayons or felt-tip pens and then hang them against a window or other light source to produce dazzling stained glass effects. Suggestions for lifelike coloring are included.

"From orchids to bananas, Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka created a stunning array of glass models of plants from around the world. Working exclusively for Harvard University in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Blaschkas applied their artistic expertise and botanical knowledge to craft a meticulously portrayed collection for Harvard students, researchers and the public. The precise shaping and delicate painting and enameling of the models renders life-like details that fool the eye. Such detail is captured in dazzling new photographs of 60 models that inspire wonder and blur the line between the real and that which is made by man. The Ware Collection of Glass Plants is unique and astonishing. It demonstrates the majesty of plants and the artistry and scientific acumen of this father and son team"--

Author Michelle Houts and illustrator Bagram Ibatoulline explore the magic of one of the seaside’s greatest wonders and the bonds that link us through time. One summer, a boy named Thomas visits his grandmother at her seaside cottage. She gives him a magnifying glass that once belonged to his grandfather, and with it Thomas explores the beach, turning grains of sand into rocks and dark clamshells into swirling mazes of black, gray, and white. When his grandmother shows him a piece of sea glass, Thomas is transfixed. That night he dreams of an old shipyard and the breaking of a bottle. Could the very piece of sea glass on his nightstand have come from that bottle? For the rest of the summer, he searches for more sea glass and hopes to have dreams that will reveal more of the sea’s secrets. A stunning ode to stories and the seaside, this picture book invites readers to imagine the ocean of possibility that lives in every small or forgotten treasure.

What happens to glass between the time it falls into the sea and it washes up on the beach years later? This wordless story flows along one possible course of events, following a soda bottle dropped overboard from a ship early in the twentieth century, only to have a fragment of it discovered on a beach by a young girl decades later. Over time, the bottle has been influenced by waves, currents, the sea floor, and sea creatures, all pictured in lush full-color renderings by artist Nicole Fazio. Fully immersed in the art, children and adults alike can trace the passage of time through the Journey of the Sea Glass.

10 realistically rendered denizens of the deep: zebra fish, blue crab, octopus, sea nettle, northern sea star, 5 others.