A fine entry in the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series that introduces readers to the peregrine falcon, its history, habits, and its near-deadly encounter with DDT. Jenkins (A Nest Full of Eggs, 1995, not reviewed) starts her story with a profile of the falcon's hunting skills and draws readers in by noting that the falcon stoops (dives) at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour toward its target (and never misses). After offering background on the DDT episode (in the 1950s, peregrines ate poisoned insects and then laid eggs with shells so thin they cracked under the weight of the nesting mother), Jenkins chronicles the successful efforts to bring the peregrine back from the brink of extinction with the aid of researchers such as those at the Hawk Barn laboratory. One of their banded birds, Scarlett, took up roost on the 33rd floor of a Baltimore office building (where Jenkins was working) and waited five years for a mate to appear. When he finally showed up, their clutch of eggs produced the first wild peregrine eyases in the eastern US in over 30 years. Lloyd's vivid, highly realistic watercolors enhance the lucid, lively text; no one should be surprised if readers finish this book and ask for a lift to one of the bird-watching venues listed in the back. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 31, 1996
ISBN: 0-06-021104-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1996
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Keena Ford’s second-grade class is taking a field trip to the United States Capitol. This good-hearted girl works hard to behave, but her impulsive decisions have a way of backfiring, no matter how hard she tries to do the right thing. In this second book in a series, Keena cuts off one of her braids and later causes a congressman to fall down the stairs. The first-person journal format is a stretch—most second graders can barely write, let alone tell every detail of three days of her life. Children will wonder how Keena can cut one of her “two thick braids” all the way off by pretend-snipping in the air. They will be further confused because the cover art clearly shows Keena with a completely different hairdo on the field trip than the one described. Though a strong African-American heroine is most welcome in chapter books and Keena and her family are likable and realistic, this series needs more polish before Keena writes about her next month in school. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: July 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3264-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2009
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