Three experts, three species, three zoos: these elements add up to a fascinating story of how specialists make a real...
Readers see the human side of animal science.
Newman brings scientific research to life with her lively introduction to three scientists active today, two women and one man, all white and from the United States. The National Zoo’s Meredith Bastian’s “wild perspective” was an important factor in her hiring, first by the Philadelphia Zoo and then by her current employer. Her experiences in Borneo led to conservation efforts that include educating zoo visitors about using palm oil products from companies that do not harm orangutan environments. She has also advocated for the installation of “overhead trails,” resembling ziplines, that allow “orangutans to travel much like wild ones do.” In writing about the Lincoln Park Zoo’s Rachel Santymire’s work in South Africa, Newman describes how “male black rhinos scrape their feces into long trenches” to mark their territory, while “females scrape to look for a mate—kind of like posting a profile on a dating website.” The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Jeff Baughman doesn’t just breed black-footed ferrets; he reintroduces these small mammals back into the wild, helping to build up a population that numbered only 18 in 1984. With engaging photos, useful charts and maps, and practical conservation tips, this volume provides lots of encouragement for budding young scientists.
Three experts, three species, three zoos: these elements add up to a fascinating story of how specialists make a real difference in conservation today. (source notes, glossary, selected bibliography, more conservation stories, index) (Nonfiction. 9-14)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5124-1571-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
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