Andy's Animal Alphabet Almanac

Experience learning and loving animals in these cozy pages that are both fun to see and fun to hear. This book contains thoughtfully photographed, high-quality images that the youngest children will instantly recognize. Taken at zoos and aquariums around the world, these photos allow readers to emotionally connect with the magnificent creatures. Poems contain carefully researched and fascinating facts that will teach even adult readers something new, and each is couched in a sing-song rhyme that brings enjoyment and surprise. Targeted at fostering a lifelong love for animals, proceeds of sales from this book will be used to directly benefit wildlife conservation, research, and education.

Creating this book allowed Andy Crocker to combine into a single project several of his passions: poetry, photography, and zoos. He is trained and works as an engineer, but he enjoys being a "Renaissance Man." He has always been interested in the arts and particularly in poetry. When digital photography entered the mainstream, his interest in photography began. He started out photographing landscapes and travel destinations—and he still enjoys them both—but he eventually developed a love of photographing animals. He has visited over 75 zoos and aquariums and wildlife reserves around the world, and he visits new ones whenever he can. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the North Alabama Zoological Society (NALZS), which is developing a new zoo for the Huntsville, Alabama/Tennessee Valley area.

For his "day job," Crocker is a real-life rocket scientist. He has had the opportunity to work on many incredible projects, including serving as manager of the Human Landing System, where he led a diverse team in the development of a system to transport crew and cargo to and from the Moon.

Crocker earned undergraduate degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Multidisciplinary Studies from N.C. State University and graduate degrees in engineering and management from the University of Florida and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In addition to NALZS, he has served on Boards for the Huntsville Chapter of the National Space Club and the Sci-Quest Hands-on Science Center.

He lives in North Alabama, where he and his wife have raised two children.