Along a stream a dam pops out of the water. Beavers are busy at work! These aquatic mammals have unique traits that aid them in building the perfect lodge to raise young beavers and keep predators away. Mary Holland’s vibrant photographs document the beavers’ activities through the course of a year. Do these beavers ever take a break? Follow along as they pop through the winter ice to begin the busy year of eating bark, building dams and gathering food just in time for winter to come again. Busy Year gives a description of beaver activities through the seasons. It has a lot of full-color photographic close-ups of beaver life, perfect for browsing. --School Library Journal The text is rich in facts and is perfectly complemented with full-page color photographs of beavers on the move. --Booklist It is a wonderful nonfiction book to add to any children's science library about beavers, nature's engineers. --Science Books & Films Mary Holland is a naturalist, nature photographer, columnist, and award-winning author with a life-long passion for natural history. After graduating from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources, Mary worked as a naturalist at the Museum of the Hudson Highlands in New York state, directed the state-wide Environmental Learning for the Future program for the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, worked as a resource naturalist for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and designed and presented her own "Knee-High Nature Programs" for libraries and elementary schools throughout Vermont and New Hampshire. In addition to Animal Legs, Animal Mouths, and Animal Eyes her children's books include Otis the Owl, A Beaver's Busy Year and Ferdinand Fox's First Summer (NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books, Moonbeam Bronze award) with Arbordale and Milkweed Visitors, (Science Books and Films' list for the best books of 2006 in the category Children's Books under Zoological Sciences). Mary's book Naturally Curious: a Photographic Field Guide and Month-by-Month Journey Through the Fields, Woods and Marshes of New England won the 2011 National Outdoor Book Award for the Nature Guidebook category. Mary lives in Vermont with her lab, Emma.