Pinning a purple flower into her bleach blonde hair, pretty Ava admired herself in the mirror. She had every reason to be proud. In the space of a year, she had lost an incredible 17 stone. Her weight dropped from 37st 1lbs to 19st 7lbs, and she slipped into a dress before gazing at her newly svelte figure. With her smokey eye makeup and black skater dress, she could have been glamming up for a night on the tiles with her girlfriends. Instead, it was Halloween, 2013, and Ava was hiding a huge secret. Born a boy named William, it was the first time she had ever dressed as a girl – and everything fell into place.
Leaping out of the ocean, a group of gentoo penguins fly through the air before landing safely on an iceberg .
FINALLY catching a meal, a pair of great white egrets fight over their dinner .
A little caterpillar fearlessly scampers down a branch and confronts a praying mantis .
WITH HIS PAW covering his mouth, this cheeky cub looks amused by something .
BALANCING 30 metres above ground, these slackliners take the expression of living dangerously one step further, by tightrope walking NAKED .
From foster care to the MAGICAL world of cosplay, a young girl’s dreams become reality after being adopted by a photography loving couple .
Staring death in the face, a little field mouse bravely confronts a hungry cat .
A KITTEN'S teaparty and rat's playing dominoes are the bizarre creations by one of Britain's great eccentrics pictured in an incredible new book .
A BROWN bear wades through waters in Alaska and waits for his lunch .
If you had to scrape the snow off your car this morning or slip-slide your way into work over icy pavements spare a thought for these little critters .
PERCHING on top of a gate, this young barn swallow waits patiently for his mum to return with dinner .
SQUEEZING their furry faces through a hole in a tree, a trio of curious baby squirrels leave their nest for the first time to explore their surroundings .