A surprise baby, the first zoo-born gorilla in the world, put the Columbus, Ohio, zoo on the map. Now well over 50, Colo has entertained zoo-goers, taught researchers, spurred the study and protection of gorillas in the wild and mothered five subsequent generations of gorillas now in zoos around the county. This chronicle of Colo's life includes stories of important events and plentiful details of her daily routine. A busy design surrounds substantial text and includes numerous black-and-white and color photos taken at the zoo. Readers will be drawn in by the events of her birth, including the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation needed to revive the newborn baby found on the concrete cage floor. Raised and clothed like a human baby, she eventually became so strong and strong-willed she was caged like the other gorillas in the zoo and provided with a wild-caught mate. Although she never nursed her own babies, she did nurture grandchildren. Over the years, and with the advice of Dian Fossey, who had studied gorilla behavior in the wild, there were changes in the way gorillas were housed in Ohio and around the country. Colo and others were given a new, more interesting environment and allowed to live in family groups. Sidebars explain trading and breeding policies of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, gorilla mothering and gorilla communication. The book ends with a family tree and photo scrapbook. (endnotes, recommended reading, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-9841554-4-6
Page Count: -
Publisher: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Biology professor Greta Binford studies spiders in an Oregon lab and in the field in the Dominican Republic, where she searches for L. Taino, a Caribbean relative of the venomous brown recluse that might provide clues to how and when the recluse genus arrived in North America. The husband-and-wife team who produced the Newbery Honor–winning Sugaring Time (1983), as well as many other titles, follow the arachnologist, beginning with her investigations on the family farm in Indiana. In leisurely, literary prose, Lasky presents the ancient class of arachnids before introducing the scientist and explaining her quest. In the field, Greta looks for particular species whose DNA and venom, when analyzed, can help fill out the family tree. “It’s not a simple story,” the scientist says; neither is the book. On most spreads, a full-bleed photograph is opposed by substantial text and one or two smaller pictures, many without captions. There are occasional maps, and the end matter includes a picture glossary with Latin and common names, which serves as an index to the spider photographs. (sources, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4222-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This latest addition to an always-intriguing series describes the work of Fernando Rosas, John Reynolds and Lucy Keith studying manatees in different parts of the world. Gentle, slow-moving vegetarians, these curious aquatic mammals are distant relatives of elephants and live in the Amazon, in Florida and nearby ocean waters and in West African rivers. The three different but similar species are all listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as extremely vulnerable to extinction. Florida’s protected manatees are a tourist attraction, easy to see in the clear waters of the Crystal River and in discharge zones of power plants, where they congregate for warmth in cold spells. The more mysterious manatees of Brazil and West Africa lurk in murky rivers and are sometimes killed and eaten. These three researchers track the animals in different ways, use biological techniques to learn more about their lives, work with people of the area toward protection and even, in Brazil, experiment with returning some to the wild from captivity. Like other books in this series, this is distinguished by clear, realistic explanations of scientific fieldwork and well-reproduced photographs, many taken by the author. The text, on the advanced side for the intended audience, is broken up by captioned photos, some mounted as snapshots. Overall, it lives up to the standards set by others in this stellar series. (maps, resources, glossary, author’s note, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-15254-7
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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