'A rare & magical book. I didn't want it to end.' — Bill Bryson'A total miracle.' — Max Porter'A witty, intoxicating paean to Earth's wondrous creatures.' —Observer'Rundell's pen is gold-tipped.' —Sunday Times°°°SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEARIllustrated by Talya BaldwinA gloriously illustrated & fascinating bestiary of the world’s most extraordinary endangered animals – a treasure trove of vanishing wondersThe world is more astonishing, more miraculous & more wonderful than our wildest imaginings.In this passionately persuasive & sharply funny book,Katherine Rundelltells us how and why.A lavishly illustrated collection of the lives of some of the Earth's most astounding animals,The Golden Moleis a chance to be awestruck & lovestruck - to reckon with the beauty of the world, its fragility, & its strangeness.A swiftflies two million kilometres in its lifetime. That's far enough to get to the moon and back twice over - and then once more to the moon. A pangolin keeps its tongue furled in a pouch by its hip, a Greenland shark can live five hundred years, a wombat once inspired a love poem.°°°Katherine Rundellis the internationally bestselling author ofImpossible Creatures. Her other books for children includeRooftoppers,Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms,The Wolf Wilder,The Explorer, andThe Good Thieves. She grew up in Zimbabwe, Brussels, & London, & is currently a Fellow of St. Catherine’s College, Oxford. For adult readers, Rundell has writtenVanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered CreaturesandSuper-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, which won theBaillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. She was the recipient of theBritish Book Award for Book of the Year & Author of the Year.