'A rare and 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 YEAR **The world is more astonishing, more miraculous and more wonderful than our wildest imaginings.In this passionately persuasive and sharply funny book, Katherine Rundell tells us how and why.A lavishly illustrated collection of the lives of some of the Earth's most astounding animals, The Golden Mole is a chance to be awestruck and lovestruck - to reckon with the beauty of the world, its fragility, and its strangeness.A swift flies 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 Rundell grew up in London, Zimbabwe and Belgium. She is the youngest female scholar to be made a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. Her award-winning and bestselling books for children have been translated into thirty languages and have multiple awards. Rundell is also the author of a book for adults Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old And Wise. She is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books.