Explore Your World: Spotlight Series

Have you ever heard about the cookie-cutter shark, which bites out cookie-shaped morsels of flesh from much larger animals than itself? Or the goblin shark, which was thought to have become extinct 100 million years ago until a living specimen was discovered in 1898? And did you know that the whale shark has jaws the size of a 12-year-old child? The earth is home to over one billion sharks across 500 different species, and there's so much to learn about these ancient rulers of the ocean!

There's so much more to elephants than their enormous size! Have you heard about their excellent memory or their adorable sense of humour? Did you know that they actually walk on their tippy toes? And wait till you see who their cousins are – you're in for a surprise! Elephants can live until the age of 70 and are Earth's most intelligent giants, with incredible communication and relationship-building abilities.

You might think that there's not much to jellyfish, but this audiobook will make you think again. Did you know that jellyfish can thrive in waters that would suffocate other sea creatures? Or that some jellyfish can flash different colours from purple to green? Or that they have the world's most powerful venom? There is even a jellyfish that is immortal! There are more than 2000 kinds of jellyfish, and they're one of the few creatures that will thrive in warmer waters due to climate change – yikes!

There's more to snakes than them being venomous and cold-blooded. Did you know a snake can still grow even when it hasn't eaten for months? Or that snakes have flexible jaws that allow them to eat prey that's much larger than them? Or that snakes are masters of disguise? With more than 3700 sub-species around the world, there's a snake to delight and frighten every kind of listener, from Australia's deadly Eastern brown snake to the green anaconda, the heaviest snake in the world. Not to mention the teeny-tiny Barbados thread snake, which is half as long as a pencil!