Animals Archives - Page 15 of 19

January 3, 2011January 3, 2011

Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot

Have you seen Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot by Sy Montgomery and photographs by Nic Bishop yet? It is on the shortlist for the Cybils in the Middle Grade/Young Adult Nonfiction category. Fuse #8 has predicted it might be in line for the Sibert Medal. If you haven’t seen it, you may wonder what all the fuss is about. It just another book in the Scientists in the Field series, right?

The fuss is all about the strangest, most wondrous, and captivating bird on the planet, called a kakapo parrot.

My family first learned about the adorable kakapo parrot from Sir David Attenborough’s The Life of Birds. The kakapo lives in New Zealand, known for its unusual bird life. In this case “unusual” is an understatement. These large, flightless parrots (weighing up to eight pounds) have soft green feathers that smell strongly of honey, of all things. The sweet smell is thought to come from a bacteria that lives on the birds. They are active at night, and hide during the day in burrows under the ground. That is not where you would expect to find a parrot at all.

Photograph from Brent Barrett at Wikipedia

This tale does have a sad part. Over the last few hundred years, the kakapo numbers have plummeted. A few times they were thought to be nearly extinct. Right now conservationists are trying valiantly to save the less than 100 birds that remain.

With the team of experienced nature writer Sy Montgomery and and fabulous photographer Nic Bishop, you know Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot is going to be high quality. Two of their previous books have been Sibert Honor books. What really tips this book into another category is their obvious passion for the topic. You can tell these two are thrilled to be freezing and wet on a remote island near Antartica chasing the kakapo story to share with us.

Photograph by Mnolf at Wikipedia

As Montgomery so eloquently reminds us, we don’t know the ending to this particular story yet. “We could be witness to one of the most thrilling conservation success stories in human history – or one of the noblest but most tragic failures.”

What do you think?

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 80 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (May 24, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0618494170
ISBN-13: 978-0618494170

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week. This week’s post is at Charlotte’s Library.

If you are a fan of children’s nonfiction books, be sure to visit the new Nonfiction Monday Facebook page.

December 27, 2010

Mammoths and Mastodons

Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age by Cheryl Bardoe centers on a traveling exhibit by the Field Museum of Chicago.

In fact if you would like to see it, the exhibit is at the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey until January 9, 2011. Check here for the itinerary.

Let’s take a look at what the Mammoths and Mastodons exhibit is all about in this video:

Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age has many wonderful aspects, and was nominated for a Cybils award in the nonfiction picture book category. It was recently highlighted in a review post at the Cybils blog.

I do have a note of caution about this book, and the exhibit as well. Young, sensitive children may find the visuals of a dead, mummified baby mammoth upsetting. In the text are also vivid stories of dying animals, and one account of a scientist who ate a dead horse over a period of time. I know, it was in the name of science, but I’m an adult scientist and I found that revolting!

Bottom line, there will be a lot of kids who will love Mammoths and Mastodons, but it probably would be better off in the middle grade level based on content.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers (March 1, 2010)
ISBN-10: 081098413X
ISBN-13: 978-0810984134

And for the young, sensitive types:

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by Anastasia Suen’s Nonfiction Monday page. This week’s post is at Check It Out.

December 20, 2010December 20, 2010

Journey Into The Deep Has Real Depth

Middle grade and older students who are interested in science have it so good these days, with new books like Journey Into The Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures by Rebecca L. Johnson. Readers learn about cutting edge science, view glorious full-color photographs of creatures never seen before, and get glimpses into the lives of scientists at work. It is so appropriate for kids at an age where they are getting ready to explore their world, as well as starting to think about their career options. This book is sure to inspire everyone to want to study marine biology.

Journey Into The Deep is an overview of the Census of Marine Life, a world-wide effort (carried out from 2000 to 2010) to survey, count, and investigate all the living things in the ocean. Johnson describes where and how the searches were carried out, and describes in detail some of the exciting findings. As of the time the book was published, the participating scientists had found some 5,600 new species, from tiny and colorful lobsters to zombie worms that feed on bones without the benefit of having mouths or stomachs. (The zombie worms are actually a lovely, delicate pink color, so zombie may be a bit of a misnomer.) You just have to see the photographs of these new creatures. They are amazing!

As an example of the level of thought that went into this book, the pages start with light blue hues in the background, symbolizing the color of the water at shallow depths. As your get “deeper” into the book, the page backgrounds darken, until they are black with white text. It is subtle, but adds to the effect that you are right there with the scientists exploring the ocean depths.

Tucked in sidebars are things that any individual can do to help the oceans, and information how you can become a scientist who studies the oceans. And believe me, after reading this book you are going to want to become an ocean scientist, because it is so inspiring. Pick up a copy and see for yourself!

This short video from National Geographic gives you an idea what the Census of Marine Life is all about.

Journey Into The Deep is nominated for a 2010 Cybils award in the MG/YA nonfiction category.

Resources:
Discussion Guide at Lerner Books (check right sidebar)

Other popular and science books at Census of Marine Life

Reading level: Young Adult
Library Binding: 64 pages
Publisher: Millbrook Press (September 2010)
ISBN-10: 076134148X
ISBN-13: 978-0761341482

December 13, 2010December 14, 2010

The Bat Scientists

Mary Kay Carson’s new book The Bat Scientists with photographs by her husband, Tom Uhlman, is a stand out in the wonderful Scientists in the Field series. Even if you are only mildly interested in bats or find bats off putting, this is a fascinating book.

Carson follows bat scientist Merlin Tuttle into a cave in Texas to find out what studying bats in like. Immediately we learn that this field is not for the squeamish. Wading through bat guano teeming with insects, while breathing through a respirator in a smelly cave at temperatures of 100° F isn’t for everyone. Thank goodness that Dr. Tuttle and his colleagues (and Mary Carson) are willing to do it, because it turns out that bats are pretty important in the scheme of things. By learning more about them, hopefully we can protect these fragile and misunderstood little creatures before it is too late. Carson discusses some of the disturbing recent threats to bats at the end of the book.

Our family became intrigued by bats years ago through two great fiction picture books: Stellaluna by Janell Cannon and wonderful The Bat in the Boot by Annie Cannon. This great nonfiction middle grade book is keeping that curiosity alive and well, as we learn the current bat facts and research techniques. As my son says,”The Bat Scientists is a really good book!”

This book was nominated for a Cybils in middle grade nonfiction.

For more information and reviews, see Mary Carson’s The Bat Scientists page.

For bat science activities, see Growing With Science.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 80 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 6, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0547199562
ISBN-13: 978-0547199566