Heaping helpings of eye candy for panda lovers.
A trove of panda portraits lights up a survey of international efforts to increase the populations and conserve the habitats of this most photogenic of animals.
The chief draw will be the page-after-page presentation of impossibly cute panda newborns, roly-poly cubs, and sedentary adults chomping away at bamboo in both zoos and natural settings—with further views of panda toys, cartoons, and animal workers in panda suits to disguise their human forms. Jazynka and Raven-Ellison’s accompanying commentary fills budding conservationists in on the panda family’s ancestry and modern members, panda behavior and life cycles, how the animals are cared for in captivity, and particularly on how those born in captivity are “rewilded” (thus the suits) in preparation for releasing them into their natural habitats. The focus shifts back and forth from zoos, mostly in the United States, to nature preserves in China, with frequent inset profiles of panda researchers in both hemispheres and brief Q-and-A sessions. Project ideas for young activists ranging from fundraising activities to wildlife photography cap each chapter, rounded off with healthy lists of organizations and sources of information at the end. The simultaneously publishing Mission: Shark Rescue, by Ruth A. Musgrave, also with Raven-Ellison, covers much the same sort of material with rather more teeth.
Heaping helpings of eye candy for panda lovers. (maps, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: June 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2088-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
“In 1875 there were perhaps fifty million of them. Just twenty-five years later nearly every one of them was gone.” The author of many nonfiction books for young people (Bridges; Truck; Giants of the Highways, etc.) tells the story of the American bison, from prehistory, when Bison latifrons walked North America along with the dinosaurs, to the recent past when the Sioux and other plains Indians hunted the familiar bison. Robbins uses historic photographs, etchings, and paintings to show their sad history. To the Native Americans of the plains, the buffalo was central to their way of life. Arriving Europeans, however, hunted for sport, slaughtering thousands for their hides, or to clear the land for the railroad, or farmers. One telling photo shows a man atop a mountain of buffalo skulls. At the very last moment, enough individuals “came to their senses,” and worked to protect the remaining few. Thanks to their efforts, this animal is no longer endangered, but the author sounds a somber note as he concludes: “the millions are gone, and they will never come back.” A familiar story, well-told, and enhanced by the many well-chosen period photographs. (photo credits) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83025-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
Here is an adventure in a unique setting. The lively text and lovely watercolors document three and a half months of a summer the artist and author spent at the South Pole, as part of the National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists & Writers Program. Hooper describes everyday life aboard the research ship Laurence M. Gould, a sturdy orange icebreaker that scientists use to travel between the islands to study the wide variety of animals who come each year to breed and raise their young. An assortment of penguins, elephant seals, giant petrels, huge skuas, and leopard seals hold center stage. Scientists are less important than the serious business of successfully raising young in the short summer season. The author captures the drama of the ice-cold ocean, alive with life: “Swarms of barrel-shaped blue-tinged salps, stuck together in floating chains. Minute creatures with red eyes. Sliding through the water in a curving path like a ribbon.” The artist provides striking paintings of the landscape and the animals in soft washy colors, and quick pencil sketches. The ice is lemon gold with mauve shadows, and the sea a silver gray in the 24-hour day. Animals are expressive and individual. The krill, the tiny shrimp-like creatures that form the backbone of the ocean food chain, appear in luminous glory. The author concludes with a page on global warming, a map of the islands visited, and an index. From cover to cover a personal and informative journey. (Nonfiction. 7-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7922-7188-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
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