A message of hope from Scientists in the Field.
Scientists from different disciplines, career stages, and parts of the world work toward saving the Tasmanian devil, an Australian carnivore threatened with extinction due to the devil facial tumor disease.
When Patent began working on her investigation of the story of this rapidly advancing, apparently communicable cancer, scientists feared it was soon going to wipe out the species except in captivity. But progress in several fields, the work of both caretakers of captive populations and those who reintroduce some to the wild, and the adaptations and evolution of the animals themselves give hope for a different outcome. The author’s long experience writing for young readers is evident. She organizes this complex account in ways that make it clear and provides background that middle school readers will need: introducing this secretive and often maligned mammal; explaining the disease and its effects on the animals’ genes; describing rescue efforts in the field; and showing lab work toward developing an effective vaccine. She interviews and accompanies four featured white scientists, male and female, as well as others involved in this work, and ends each chapter with a short summary note headed “What I learned.” Photographs show the Tasmanian landscape, other wildlife, researchers at work, spacious areas for captive devils, and the animals themselves, which are dog-sized, furry, and reasonably appealing when their mouths are closed and their threatening teeth are hidden.
A message of hope from Scientists in the Field. (acknowledgments, glossary, further information, sources, photo credits, index) (Nonfiction. 11-15)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-544-99148-4
Page Count: 80
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Not so much a systematic identification guide as a broad, engagingly informal reminder that we are sharing our immediate...
An unfocused but mildly entertaining introduction to our nonhuman neighbors and housemates.
Expanding his definition of “urban animals” to include butterflies, zebra mussels, cougars and even certain kinds of whales, Read presents quick tallies of creatures who have proven adaptable enough to thrive, or at least survive, in or near towns and cities. They do so largely, he claims, because we destroy their natural habitats and also, deliberately or otherwise, feed them. He seems fonder of colorful figures of speech than strict accuracy—deer in Boston are hardly “as common as dandelions,” and conversely many might wish that city pigeons were only “as common as McDonald’s outlets.” Nevertheless, he presents a reasonably extensive menagerie of mammals, birds, reptiles and “creepy crawlies” that urban or suburban U.S. and Canadian readers are more than likely to encounter. Aside from one scene of falcons chowing down on a pigeon, the mix of close-up and mid-distance color photos on every spread present their subjects in fetching poses. A discourse on invasive species and a closing appeal to conserve wild spaces are tangential but not entirely foreign to his main subject.
Not so much a systematic identification guide as a broad, engagingly informal reminder that we are sharing our immediate surroundings, as well as our world in general, with others. (index, glossary, online resources) (Nonfiction. 11-13)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-55469-394-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
Tailor-made for epidemiologists-in-the-making and connoisseurs of the gross.
From the creators of Poop Happened! (2010), a swarm of bug-driven disasters suffered through the centuries.
Though Albee at least makes mention of honeybees, silkworms, the parasitic wasps used for biological control, and even, provocatively if a tad off topic, a study that suggests intestinal worms make some people healthier, the focus here is on the dark side. Setting readers up for major “ick” moments, the introduction includes a disingenuous warning that squeamish readers should skip the explicit “TMI” side boxes (as if!). The chronicle proper opens with a lurid picture of our historically unhygienic ways and introductions to the four “Bad-News Bugs” most responsible for spreading microbial maladies. Successive chapters (with jocular headers: “Of Lice and Men”; “Twentieth Century Pox”) detail the damage wrought by crop-devouring insects as well as the symptoms and effects of insect-borne epidemics, pandemics and tropical diseases. Along with the aforementioned TMI features, the pages are liberally endowed with side profiles of “Bug Thugs” and human notables, quick quotes and other tidbits, as well as maps, photos, period images and Leighton’s lighthearted cartoon vignettes. Ominous observations toward the end that pesticide-resistant bugs and microbes are on the rise don’t entirely spoil the fun.
Tailor-made for epidemiologists-in-the-making and connoisseurs of the gross. (glossary, multimedia information sources, index) (Nonfiction. 11-14)Pub Date: April 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8027-3422-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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