Striking photographs and clear explanatory text introduce 15 highly endangered species and two brought back from the edge of extinction, examples of the “very wonderful, very rare” living things with which humans share our world.
Working from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “Red List of Threatened Species,” the authors have selected a variety of animals, insects and plants from around the world to exemplify the issue. Four pages of introduction explain the problem and topics touched on in subsequent double-spread “chapters”: field research, numbers and threats, action plans and scientists involved. Appropriately for young readers, success stories come first: the humpback whale and New Zealand’s black robin. Subsequent spreads cover species from Przewalski’s horse on the Mongolian steppes to kestrels in Mauritius. Each creature gets a spread with a photograph, a few paragraphs of engaging, descriptive text, and sidebar notes: number, location, threats and what needs to be done. Many of these species have been captive-bred and released. Others will require community engagement and enforcement of existing protective laws. The design is attractive and the organization clear. A map serves as an index to species covered and also locates other creatures that make up the top 100 from the Zoological Society of London’s “Priceless or Worthless?” list.
An appealing and effective way to convey an important message. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-15)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-77147-063-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive?
Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-67605-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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Boy and fox follow separate paths in postwar rebuilding.
A year after Peter finds refuge with former soldier Vola, he prepares to leave to return to his childhood home. He plans to join the Junior Water Warriors, young people repurposing the machines and structures of war to reclaim reservoirs and rivers poisoned in the conflict, and then to set out on his own to live apart from others. At 13, Peter is competent and self-contained. Vola marvels at the construction of the floor of the cabin he’s built on her land, but the losses he’s sustained have left a mark. He imposes a penance on himself, reimagining the story of rescuing the orphaned kit Pax as one in which he follows his father’s counsel to kill the animal before he could form a connection. He thinks of his heart as having a stone inside it. Pax, meanwhile, has fathered three kits who claim his attention and devotion. Alternating chapters from the fox’s point of view demonstrate Pax’s care for his family—his mate, Bristle; her brother; and the three kits. Pax becomes especially attached to his daughter, who accompanies him on a journey that intersects with Peter’s and allows Peter to not only redeem his past, but imagine a future. This is a deftly nuanced look at the fragility and strength of the human heart. All the human characters read as White. Illustrations not seen.
An impressive sequel. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-293034-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
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