Next book

BEAUTY AND THE BEAK

HOW SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND A 3D-PRINTED BEAK RESCUED A BALD EAGLE

Offer this heartwarming example of animal rehabilitation to fans of Winter’s Tail, by Juliana, Isabella, and Craig Hatkoff...

An Alaskan eagle’s broken beak is restored with modern technology.

In a straightforward, relatively simple text extensively illustrated with photographs, writer Rose and raptor biologist Veltkamp imagine the eagle’s early life and then chronicle her experience in human hands. After her beak was partially shot off and she couldn’t eat or drink properly, the fully grown eagle could no longer survive in the wild. In her first rescue center, her wounds were treated and she was given a name, Beauty. Transferred to biologist Veltkamp’s raptor center in Idaho, she came to the attention of an engineer who designed and printed a 3-D prosthetic to replace the missing part of her upper beak. After a dentist installed it, she could drink on her own and use her beak to preen her feathers as eagles do. Solid information about bald eagles in the wild is woven into the story, and lengthy backmatter describes eagle physical characteristics and protection efforts. Beauty’s beak is now regenerating and she no longer uses that prosthetic, but, an author’s note tells readers, other animals and humans do use similar replacement parts. Resources include web connections and QR codes to be used with a Cornell Lab of Ornithology app.

Offer this heartwarming example of animal rehabilitation to fans of Winter’s Tail, by Juliana, Isabella, and Craig Hatkoff (2009), and similar stories. (Nonfiction. 6-9)

Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-943978-28-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Persnickety Press

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017

Categories:
Next book

OVER AND UNDER THE WAVES

From the Over and Under series

More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature.

In a new entry in the Over and Under series, a paddleboarder glimpses humpback whales leaping, floats over a populous kelp forest, and explores life on a beach and in a tide pool.

In this tale inspired by Messner’s experiences in Monterey Bay in California, a young tan-skinned narrator, along with their light-skinned mom and tan-skinned dad, observes in quiet, lyrical language sights and sounds above and below the sea’s serene surface. Switching perspectives and angles of view and often leaving the family’s red paddleboards just tiny dots bobbing on distant swells, Neal’s broad seascapes depict in precise detail bat stars and anchovies, kelp bass, and sea otters going about their business amid rocky formations and the swaying fronds of kelp…and, further out, graceful moon jellies and—thrillingly—massive whales in open waters beneath gliding pelicans and other shorebirds. After returning to the beach at day’s end to search for shells and to spot anemones and decorator crabs, the child ends with nighttime dreams of stars in the sky meeting stars in the sea. Appended nature notes on kelp and 21 other types of sealife fill in details about patterns and relationships in this rich ecosystem. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-9)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-79720-347-8

Page Count: 56

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022

Next book

IF POLAR BEARS DISAPPEARED

From the If Animals Disappeared series

A solid addition to the climate-change canon for those interested in saving a fragile world.

Dire consequences attend the unchecked melting of Arctic sea ice.

The more the ice melts, the more the Arctic climate changes. The more that air and ground temperatures rise, the more the frozen ecosystem’s inhabitants, including plants and insects, suffer from dwindling habitats; threats to food sources; and imbalances in feeding, breeding, and migration patterns. Solid information is packed into this brief work that lucidly raises the alarm for young readers, with each spread capturing the thrilling, chilling north in rich, dramatic blue swathes of seawater set off by icy glaciers and snowdrifts. Child-friendly, occasionally cluttered paintings, some with labels, highlight polar bears and their Arctic neighbors; a spread of vignettes illustrates how changes to plant life affect wildlife. One labeled spread explains all: As seawater warms, it absorbs sunlight, thus heating more water and melting more ice. One poignant spread depicts a bewildered polar bear mom, eyeing readers and flanked by her twin cubs, drifting on a shrinking ice floe. Two human children, one brown-skinned and one pale, occasionally appear in the illustrations as well. The book ends on a hopeful note, reassuring youngsters that “we still have time to save polar bears and slow the loss of Arctic ice.” A note in the backmatter offers conservation tips.

A solid addition to the climate-change canon for those interested in saving a fragile world. (author’s note, bibliography, additional sources) (Informational picture book. 6-9)

Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-250-14319-8

Page Count: 42

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018

Close Quickview